The Enjoyable Entrapment
by The Kuro Ryuu Katanas
Summary: YYH, IY, RK crossover. 18 people trapped in a mansion for two years, isolated from the world under Naraku's rules. Tensions and tempers rising... Who will survive the torture? First of the comedies of Aieka and Yume!
1. How It All Began

Note: _Me and Yume are poor and own nothing. Nada. The only things we own are our own characters, (Aieka and Yume if you couldn't figure that out), Aishi, Rio (even though he IS modeled after my boyfriend Rio), Shizuka, Toya (not the Ice Master), and the wonderful storyline and all of its randomness. DO NOT PANIC BECAUSE THE ANIME CHARACTERS DON'T APPEAR IN THIS CHAPTER!!! They will be here soon, this is just the intro and gets everything started, okay? You aren't going to die. I will load new chapters depending on the number of hits on each new chapter. More info on this kinda stuff, and other stuff, is on our profile. Enough fans and I will even load new stories. The next up as soon as we hit one-hundred is...well...to be chosen yet...hehe_

**Chapter One: How It All Began**

Aieka and Yume are driving down a forest road in the dark of night after having gone shopping. Aieka was driving Yume home, occasionally looking into her rear-view mirror.

"Hey, Yume,"

"Yeah?"

"Look back there, are those idiots following us?"

Yume looks back and sees a car trailing after them. The car's headlights were busted, so they were following pretty close. She recognized those lights, and knew who was in the car: Ben and Chris.

"Yeah, it's them. They haven't ever bothered to get their headlights fixed after you busted them with that crow-bar."

Aieka laughed a little, but stopped when the car swerved on the icy road. She managed to get control of it after a few seconds. It was still January, so the roads were dangerous. And this particular road was covered in black ice so it was even worse.

"You sure you know how to drive?" Yume asked, a little nervous.

"Yes, Yume." she chanted in an annoyed tone, "I just need to pay more attention to the road. And get those guys away from me. FAR away from me."

She reached over and handed Yume her car phone, "Call Baka and tell him to get the hell away from us before I take out more than just his headlights."

By "Baka", Aieka meant Ben. They hadn't really gotten along, well… ever. They met in middle school. Chris was Ben's lackey pretty much, making him another object to torment.

Yume punched in his cell phone number, but there was no signal.

"I think your phone's broken." she said.

"The hell…?"

Aieka had just reached over to grab the phone from her when a man with shoulder-blade length black hair, dressed in old-style Japanese clothes ran out in front of the car. She slammed on the brake and the car swung off the road and down the embankment. Yume clung to the seat and screamed while Aieka was fighting vainly to gain control of the car. She gave up and saw they were about to slam into a tree at seventy miles an hour.

"JUMP!!!" Aieka screamed as she herself opened her door and leapt out.

Yume came out of her shock and escaped just as the car hit the tree and was totaled. Aieka slowly rose from the ground, making sure she hadn't broken or ruptured anything, then walked over to check Yume.

"You okay?" she asked, standing next to her.

Yume got up just as slow, favoring her left arm, "I think I'm okay. Probably just bruised my arm."

They both looked at the smashed up car, then heard their pursuers' car doors slam. Aieka glared up at them,

"Let's go, I'd rather walk all the way to town then ask them for help. How about you?"

Yume nodded in agreement, and they walked into the forest. They walked for about half-an-hour. Just as they were beginning to get really tired of walking, a broken-down old mansion came into view beyond the trees.

"What the fu-" they both began in unison.

But they didn't get the chance to finish because a bright, golden light flashed, and they both passed-out.

_- - -_

_(sometime later…)_

Yume woke up with the strange images she had just dreamed still lingering in her mind. It felt like she had just lived another life in just a few minutes.

"Aieka?" she called, "Aie-" she was cut-off.

Someone was holding a sharp katana to her throat. Yume's vision cleared up and saw a young woman standing over her.

The woman looked about seventeen and had long, dark-red hair that ended just above the base of her back and crimson eyes that were glaring down at her, making Yume cringe. She had a good figure and was wearing all black; a black halter-top and an open black jacket that ended at the top of her black, form-fitting, low-ride pants. At her waist was the sheath to her katana. The sheath itself was decorated with an elaborate, silver dragon wrapped around it. And… Was that a tail?! Yes, the woman had a dark-red tail that came to a tip about two inches from the ground.

_She's a Spirit Wolf,_ Yume thought, _Wait, how did I know that?_ An image from her dream came to her mind again. It was about a man telling her about the powerful Spirit Wolves.

- - -

"_Another type of apparition you must avoid confrontation with, Yume, are the Spirit Wolves." the man said, "They used to, hundreds of years ago, work for the Emperor of the Spirit World. He had taught them some of the best fighting techniques and spells and educated them. But then, they rebelled and he cast them out._

"_Now they are mostly wanderers, and their packs often get into wars. Some packs escaped into the Human World, but most are still in the Demon World; where they were sent after their rebellion. They usually leave humans and lowly demons alone, but if provoked, they will kill. If you leave them alone, and don't pose any threat, they will usually let you alone._

"_Never confuse them with the simple Wolf Demons who are not nearly as powerful. These Spirit Wolves are much more sophisticated, intelligent, and powerful. You can usually tell the difference by their behavior and appearance…"_

_- - -_

But what had she done to provoke this hostility? She had just woken up, damn it!

The woman held the katana to her victim's throat with just enough pressure as to not break the skin; but if Yume even twitched the slightest bit, she would slit her own throat. But it was the woman's glare that was disturbing Yume. She didn't doubt for a moment that the Wolf would kill her without a second thought.

Her assailant finally spoke, "Where is Yume? Answer me incorrectly, and I will not hesitate to kill you."


	2. Naraku's Magic, A Double Edged Gift

**Chapter Two: Naraku's Magic, A Double-Edged Gift**

"What? Who are y-"

The wolf pressed the blade harder against Yume's throat, "You are in no place to ask questions. Now, where is Yume? I will not ask again."

"I am Yume!" she insisted.

The woman's glare got more sinister, "Don't take me for a fool, onna."

"Ask me anything Yume would know. Go ahead and ask, if you don't believe me!"

"What is Yume's mother's name?"

"Ira."

"What is her favorite movie star's name?"

"The Rock."

She smirked darkly as she asked the next question, further frightening Yume, "What is Aieka's son's full name?"

Yume's eyes got huge with excitement, "OH MY GOD!!!" she screamed, "Aieka had a kid?! Is it a boy or a girl?! When was it born?! What's it's name?! TELL ME!!!" she demanded.

The woman withdrew the sword, sheathed it, and stopped glaring, "First of all, I said it was a male. It must be you Yume, only you could be that dense! And no, Aieka did not have a son. I lied."

Yume got up and noticed the woman also had dark-red wolf ears on the top of her head, "Hey! I'm not dense! But wait... Now that you know who I am, who are you?"

"I am Aieka, a.k.a. The Darkwolf, Leader of the Black Dragon army, Master of all three Mystic Dragon attacks, and the greatest assassin and thief alive." Aieka said proudly.

"Okay, I'll ignore the extremely long title for the moment." Yume said, giving her a strange look, "But… You don't look li-"

Aieka cut her off, "I know, but you don't look like Yume, either."

But before Yume could find out what Aieka meant, a male voice rang out from the mansion steps, "Actually, you look as you should."

They turned around and saw that the mansion was no longer broken down, but looked like it was just built, and absolutely beautiful. It looked huge and towered high above them. They saw there was a man walking toward them from the mansion. Aieka recognized him as the man she had almost run-over on the road. He had long black hair, longer than she had first thought, that went to his waist. He skin was very pale and he was tall. His eyes were red and he wore…eyeliner? Yes, blue eyeliner. It contradicted his eye color and looked cheap. He also wore expensive but old clothes.

"Who are you?" both Aieka and Yume asked, Aieka taking up her glare and putting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Please calm down, Mistress Aieka, my name is Naraku." he said bowing to her.

"You were saying, Naraku, something about us being 'as we should be'?" Aieka asked, taking her hand off the hilt of her sword, but keeping the glare.

"Yes. You, My Lady, are the incarnation of the great, beautiful, and powerful assassin and leader, Aieka. Also known to many as The Darkwolf. You also ruled one of the strongest armies known in Demon World. And you," he said turning to Yume, "are the reincarnation of a beautiful, ancient Northern ruler. I transferred your souls into replicas of your former bodies so you could participate in my little… party."

"What party?" Yume asked.

Naraku turned back to face the mansion, and began walking toward it, "Follow me. Everything will be explained inside."

Aieka and Yume held council as he walked toward the mansion.

"Should we follow him?" Yume asked.

"I am. It isn't like we have anywhere else we need to be. Besides, we should hear him out. After all, look what he did for us."

They began following Naraku to the mansion.

Suddenly, Aieka stopped, "Yume, do you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

Aieka sighed, "Damn it, onna! Sort of like your scent tells me you're a Spirit Fox! This scent tells me of two human males. You're a Fox; use your sense of smell!"

Yume sniffed the air, "Oh! I smell them now! They smell filthy!"

"I know… Let's find them and kill them." Aieka suggested, smirking darkly.

"I see you're acting normal. You were definitely a demon before; the attitude gives it all away." Yume mumbled under her breath as they began looking for the sources of the irritating scent.

"I heard that! I prefer the term 'apparition'."

"Oops, forgot you're a Spirit Wolf now…" Yume said, laughing nervously.

"Ha!" Aieka said, "Didn't you hear Naraku? I've always been a Spirit Wolf; I just didn't have the body!"

Then Aieka spotted two bodies on the ground, half in, half out of some bushes skirting the inside of the mansion's fence; one of medium height and fat, the other tall and skinny. She just stood there, staring at them.

"What?" Yume asked, then took a better look, "Is that… YAHABI!" she screamed, stumbling backward, "ITS BEN AND CHRIS!!!"

"N-Na-Naraku?" Aieka stammered.

He appeared behind her, "Yes, My Lady?"

"Why did you bring THEM?! They aren't reincarnated demon lords…right? Right? RIGHT?!"

He peered at them, "No, certainly not. Demon Lords look much better than those two. I'm not sure exactly why they're here… They must have followed you here and were accidentally teleported with you. I will bring them inside."

He snapped his fingers and their unconscious bodies levitated, "Now follow me into the mansion."

When they got inside and shut the door, Naraku flung the unconscious boys into a corner.

_"I think I'm starting to like this Naraku guy."_ Aieka told Yume in telepathy.

Yume jumped, "How did you do that?" she whispered.

_"I learned how after I passed out. All these memories came flooding back to me. I LOVE this new body thing!"_ she answered, still in telepathy.

_I wonder if I can do that, _Yume thought.

_"Don't bother Yume, you can't do it. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I can read your mind, too."_

_No bad thoughts! No bad thoughts! NO BAD THOUGHTS!_ Yume screamed in her mind.

_"Don't worry about it Yume."_ Aieka told her, "_I'll respect your privacy. Just don't piss me off." _she laughed.

_You're getting a real kick out of this, aren't you? _Yume asked.

"_Of course." _then Aieka quit.

Naraku had woken up Ben and Chris and they were talking. Then they saw Aieka and Yume and got really stupid looks on their faces as they began walking toward them. When Ben was just about to say something to them, Aieka warned them both off.

"I don't want to hear any of you fools' pathetic excuses for pick-up lines, so back the hell off!" then she glared at them for added effect.

"Wait…" Ben said, "You remind me of someone…"

"Yeah," Chris added, "I remember that glare…"

"Hn… I'll give you a hint." Aieka started, "Does this sound familiar? 'I hope you idiots die and burn in hell while I stand over you and laugh!'"

"Aieka! It's you!" they both said in unison.

Ben approached as closely as her dared, which wasn't very close since she had a weapon on hand and strong homicidal tendencies, and then inspected her, "Yeah, its Wolf Girl." then he looked at Yume, "But that must mean… You're Brittany!"

"It's Yume!!!" the two women yelled at him simultaneously.

"Baka!" Aieka added while rolling her eyes.

"Yup. It's definitely them." Chris confirmed.

"What was your first clue?!" Ben asked sarcastically.

"If you two fools don't mind, I would like to begin!!!" Naraku yelled at the two boys from the base of the stairs.

They instantly fell silent.

"Good. Now I will introduce you to the other participants."

Naraku directed Yume and Aieka to two comfortable-looking chairs on the left side the tall staircase, "I will only be a moment. Just wait here," then he looked at the other two, "And you aren't to do anything!"

Then he faded away.

"Strange guy." Aieka stated.

Yume nodded, "But he has a beautiful palace."

Aieka finally noticed the beauty of the mansion. There was a wide blue carpet with a silver vine design on it leading from the tall, mahogany double front-doors up the tall, wide staircase that split to lead east and west after meeting a wall. Under the carpet, on the first floor, was silver marble tile, polished to a mirror shine. The main hall had a high ceiling and once you got to the base of the stairs, the ceiling rose a thirty feet to the second floor ceiling.

On the second floor, above where the carpet split, was a tall statue of an elegant woman wearing a flowing dress. It looked like the wind had blown her long hair a little so that none was touching her face and it had blown her long dress back. Around her neck was a snowflake pendant with a small rose in the center of it. (Aieka could see it while still standing on the first floor). Her arms were stretched like she was about to embrace someone, then just froze like that. It was a marvelous statue.

There were two doors, one on either side of the hall carpet, on the first floor, once again on the east and west sides. They were flanked by silver columns with inserts. Inside the inserts were blue vases with silver floral designs, like the carpet.

The front entrance was slightly concaved outward with a beautiful mahogany doorway with vines carved into it. It faced south. The doors had abstract carvings on them. On either side of the doors were two crossing swords.

The walls themselves were like murals; faded paintings of white lilies were painted on them.

On either side of the base of the stairs were silver vases sitting on small, circular mahogany tables.

There was a small hallway behind the stairs. It started on the east side and ended on the west side. When Aieka went into it, she saw there were more stairs beneath the other staircase. They were dull, stone stairs with stone walls and ceiling. Nothing was decorated.

She went back to wait for Naraku.

"What was back there?" Yume asked when she got back.

"Just more stairs leading to some kind of basement. There was an aged blood smell and the sound of gears turning…" she trailed off.

"That's odd…"

"Naraku better get back here soon. I want that explanation."

As if on cue, Naraku appeared, "Like I said, everything will be explained shortly."

Aieka and Yume looked up the stairs. Aieka's eyes got wide and Yume gasped.


	3. The Mansion and Naraku's Other Guests

**Notes: Review! If you can read, you can write, too! TALK TO ME!!!!!! I don't care if you want to review to tell me your favorite flavor of Ramen or what the color of the panties your wearing is! SAY SOMETHING!!!!**

**Chapter Three: The Mansion, and Naraku's Other "Guests"**

Naraku stood to the right of the staircase as a long line of men, and a few woman, began coming down the stairs. Yume looked over at Aieka; about to tell her how hot some of them were when she saw that she looked disgusted.

"Hey! I think they look good! You have the strangest taste in men, Aieka!" she whispered to her fiercely.

"It's not that… I'm reading their minds… It's…disturbing…" she trailed off.

"What are they thinking?" Yume asked, amused.

Aieka sighed, "I warned you."

Then she made it to where Yume could hear what they were thinking, too.

They were all standing next to one another in a horizontal line in front of the stairs. Naraku began introducing all of them.

The first man stepped forward. He was one of the few humans among the group. His eyes were a bright sky blue. His hair was wavy and black and came to his shoulders. He stood at about five eleven. He wore robes sort of like Naraku's, but they were newer, of dark blue and white.

He stood in front of them and took Aieka's hand to kiss it. While he did, Aieka looked over to Yume who looked stricken.

_"What's wrong with you now?" _she asked.

_"I… I knew him…but…he died…"_ Yume answered.

_"Oh…"_

Then Naraku started the introduction, "This is Toya. I expect you already knew that though, Yume. He is the leader of a village in the Northern Lands."

Toya bowed to Yume, "It's nice to see you again, Lady Yume."

Yume only smiled slightly and watched as he walked back in line. She remembered how it all had happen, she was right there. She was sort of still in shock.

_- - -_

_"Toya!" a girl covered in blood running through a village that was slowly burning. The village had jut been attacked by some thieves and they wanted to get rid of all evidence so no one would come back for revenge. _

_"Toya, where are you?" she had ran till she came to this open field area a little ways from the village. She ducked behind a tree when she saw the thieves from before, and Toya on his knees, covered in blood, in front of what looked like the leader. He then put his sword to Toya's neck. Out of a natural reaction and instinct, she ran out to go and at least try to distract them while he ran and caught up with her._

_"Oi, Toya!" She yelled as she ran to him. The leader looked up at her and smirked big. Like he knew she was going to do it. He sheathed his sword and kicked Toya in the chest._

_"Come any closer and I will be forced to kill your friend, or…" _

_"Yume, Run! Don't get caught, they'll kill you. Go!….far from here!" he shouted to her. She watched him as he picked up his sword he had dropped, when then leader had kicked him. He swung at him, but the leader blocked._

_"Yume run! Now!" he shouted as they clashed swords again. Yume ran till she got to the middle of the forest. She dropped to her knees in tears, breathing hard. She heard him yell in pain and then silence. She then gripped the earth and let a growl come from deep within her chest. _

_Two days have passed since the village was burned down and Toya's death. Yume was sitting in a river, washing the blood off her body. She knew she had did something, but she doesn't remember what had happened. She was standing in the middle of a field covered in blood and bodies of the thieves that killed Toya. After that, she had ran and stopped when she had gotten to this river. She looked at her reflection, looking at the blood that must of splat from the people she had killed. Her eyes were a deep dark purple, not the usual bright purple. She washed the dried blood from her body trying to wash away the guilt, but she knew it wouldn't be just that easy. She looked at her reflection, seeing how she really was. _

_I don't want this to happen again. I won't let it happen again. After that she made sure she was nice at all times. Also, made sure that nothing happened that would lead to her having to change._

_- - -_

Then he turned and went back to the line.

Toya…he was my first… she thought to herself forgetting that Aieka could read minds. Aieka arched a brow at what she read from Yume. She didn't think Yume could actually feel this serious about something. Hell, she didn't think Yume could be serious about anything.

The next person stepped forward. He was a little under five feet tall and had black hair that must have been almost a foot tall that stood straight up in the air and had a silver starburst design near his forehead. His eyes were crimson and he wore all black; a long sleeved black shirt, black pants, and black boots. At his side was a katana and he had a white head band around his forehead.

_These idiots took long enough to get here. I have been trapped in this damn house for three days now, enduring this torment, _the guy thought.

Aieka started growling at the insult, but Naraku began introducing the man just as she was about to do something about it, "This is Hiei Jaganshi, a fire apparition. He is both an assassin and thief."

"I don't need you to introduce me, Naraku." he commented with a death glare just and scary and threatening as Aieka's.

After a few moments of Aieka glaring at Hiei, still bitter about him calling them "idiots", (more specifically calling her an idiot,) and Hiei just standing there looking annoyed, Yume couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Umm… Hi?" she said.

Hiei responded by turning around and walking back to his place in line.

_What an ass! _Yume thought.

_"Hn,"_

_"What, Aieka?" _Yume inquired.

_"Interesting guy…but kind of annoying…" _Aieka answered.

_"Yeah," _Yume giggled in her mind, _"Reminds me of you!"_

_"Shut up,"_ Aieka growled, _"Don't make me kill you!"_

_"Like you would!"_

The next person stepped forward. He was about five foot five. His hair was about two inches tall and spiked. His eyes were a blue so deep that they looked black. They had a gaze so piercing that it was like he could see into the darkest pit of your soul if you held eye contact. This man also wore all black. He had on a form-fitting T-shirt, black pants, and black combat boots. He had a short sword strapped on both sides of his waist and a strap across his chest with a series of pouches on it.

Aieka somehow also knew that, in addition to the obvious, he would have a dagger strapped to his ankle and that, in each of those seven pouches on his chest, Rio would have small explosives, lock picks, poisons, and who knew what else.

He stood right in front of Aieka. She gasped. A flashback from the dream she had when she had passed-out resurfaced in her mind.

_Aieka was standing at the head of the army, The Black Dragons they were called. They were preparing for the upcoming battle. She looked over at her leader; Drake, a full-blooded dragon demon, one of the last of his kind, were in full battle armor. Drake was standing right next to her, less than two feet to her right. He looked at her and smiled. It was a smile that only a lover of war could give. Not that she didn't enjoy fighting; she just didn't like pointless wars, like this one._

_They were battling over a little skirmish between two low-ranking soldiers that had happened three nights ago. They had run into each other at a river and got into a fight. A yelling match had ensued and then a fist fight. Somehow it had elevated into a full-fledged war between each side's army. Why not just let the two soldiers fight it out and be done with it? Aieka figured, I could be doing other things rather than fighting their battles. Much more important things._

_Aieka looked toward Rio, her superior whom she was assigned to protect. He was standing a few yards away, to her left. Rio noticed her looking at him, and flashed a quick smile. Though it was fast, it made her feel better. Their relationship had to be kept secret._

_- - -_

_Aieka and Rio were walking along a river that ran a few miles from the Northern fortress of the Black Dragons, enjoying the companionship of one another. These moments became rare ever since Drake began thinking Aieka didn't need to be trained by him anymore. They walked out onto a dock and sat down on the edge._

_"I'm being offered another leave opportunity. Four years have gone by so fast," he said._

_"Any you're going to pass it up just like all the other times. I know you."_

_"Actually…" he trailed off._

_"You-you're going to leave?!" Aieka asked, startled._

_He remained silent._

_"How dare you even consider leaving!" she yelled, shoving him off the low dock and into the river._

_She turned to walk off when he reached up, grabbed her tail, and pulled her in. He then climbed back onto the dock, laughing._

_"Never turn you back to the enemy. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?" he asked._

_Aieka climbed out and sat down next to him, wringing out her hair, "You asshole. I never real-"_

_But he grabbed her and pinned her to the dock, kissing her. When he finally broke the kiss, he gently pulled her to her feet._

_"I never said anything about leaving you, Aieka." he began, "I found out you are being offered leave, too; about two weeks after me. Am I correct?"_

_"Well, yes…"_

_"I will take my leave and meet you somewhere." he said, suddenly grabbing her and holding her in a tight embrace, "I would never leave you or betray you. You know that, Aieka. Please say you'll come with me! We could actually be together. No more passing glances, no more secret meetings…" he finished, burying his face in her hair._

_"No more Drake." she added, letting herself be taken by the moment._

_Rio was rarely so emotional. No matter what the situation, he was usually cold and distant._

_He laughed quietly, "No more Drake. He'll never be able to bother you again."_

_- - -_

_Rio and Aieka were arguing deep in the forest of the Ice World._

_"Why do you have to go?! Who fucking cares if they're having another war?! Do you know what the concept of 'leave' is?! It means you DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING FOR THEM ANYMORE!!!" Aieka screamed at him._

_"I have to go, Aieka! They requested me to come back to advise Drake! If I don't go, they'll de-rank me!!!"_

_"You still don't have to go. It's not necessary. I'll deal with them personally if I have to! Since when do you do extra work for them, anyway?!"_

_"I'm going whether you tell me not to or not," he stated, "You can't stop me."_

_"What in seven hells makes you think I can't?!"_

_He began walking toward the portal back to Demon World. Aieka's assigned bodyguard had used it to get there and it was going to take them back._

_Rio stepped into it with the guard, "I'll be back in a few months. A year tops. Goodbye, love, I'm sure you'll be fine until I get back."_

_Aieka was about to protest further, but he was gone before she could get anything out._

_- - -_

_Aieka had returned to the Northern Fortress a year after Rio had left. She went to her bodyguard, who was also her main informant, to see if Rio had come back._

_"No Mistress, no one has heard from him since he had left to fight."_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"I would never tell you anything unless I was sure it was truth, Mistress Aieka."_

_She sighed, "Thank you."_

_- - -_

_It had been three years since Rio had left. Aieka had waited at the fortress almost the entire time, waiting for his return. But now she had just been given terrible news by her guard and had gone to have it confirmed, or, hopefully, disconfirmed._

_"NO!!! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!!! DON'T TELL ME THAT!!!"_

_She knocked a stone bust of a beautiful young woman off the pedestal next to her. It shattered when it hit the floor._

_"I am sorry Aieka, but he really did die. They buried him in the courtyard this morni-"_

_"THEY WHAT?! You let them bury him without telling me you finally found his-his-his…" she stopped, on the brink of tears, but they never fell._

_"Yes. We found his body. It had washed up on a riverbank. A scout found it at sunrise."_

_Aieka collapsed on the floor, her long, crimson hair falling around her face like a curtain, "But why? Why was I not informed of this? I at least deserved to be at the funeral…"_

_"We knew-" he sighed, "I knew you would not want to see the condition of your friend's body. It was… a horrid sight at the least. So I ordered you not to be informed until after the burial. You-"_

_She stood abruptly and dashed to the door, then turned to glare at Drake, "DON'T YOU EVER ASSUME YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE WANTED!!!"_

_She left and slammed the door behind her, leaving Lord Drake alone with the broken statuette._

_"I knew she would react that way. I hope she won't act TOO rashly." he said, then sighed and headed for the door._

_Aieka went to her room and slammed the door. Deep down she knew he had died, but she couldn't handle having it told to her face, let alone have proof of his death dropped in her lap._

_"THEY DIDN'T EVEN LET ME SEE HIM!!!" she yelled._

_Then she went mad with a mixture of rage and sorrow and destroyed everything around her in the room._

_- - -_

When she came back to reality, his piercing eyes were staring into hers. Aieka couldn't look him in the eyes; she could barely stand, actually.

"This is Rio Hirotoko, a full-blooded fire-apparition. He is the general of the Black Dragon Army and is top advisor to it's two, powerful rulers. I believe Aieka would know of all of this, though." Naraku said.

She could only nod her head in response, still in shock.

Rio nodded to Yume, and then turned back to Aieka. She looked away and to the floor. He reached out his right hand and tilted her chin so she would have to look at him. She looked him right in the eyes. It surprised her that she didn't burst out in questions.

"We will talk later, alright?" he asked, but it seemed more like a command.

"Okay." was all she could manage to say.

Then he put down his hand, looked at her a little longer, then walked back to the line.

The next guy to step forward looked, at first glance, like another human, but after a more careful observation, a trained eye could see that he was actually an apparition in a human body. He was actually quite attractive. His most striking feature had to be his beautiful bright green eyes. He stood at about five six and was wearing average human street clothes; blue jeans, a faded T-shirt, and a jacket, meaning he had to have been taken from the Human World. His hair was red and was tied back. It went down to the middle of his back. He also smelled faintly like a garden.

"This is Yoko Kurama, a Spirit Fox. Formerly a thief, he now has a human form."

Aieka seemed to have recovered quickly enough.

She smirked, "Yoko Kurama? I remember you! Didn't we meet once before?"

"Yes, I believe we have," he bowed, "It is nice to see you again. And please, call me Kurama."

Then he looked at Yume, "Hello."

"Hey." Yume said, looking him up and down.

He smiled warmly at her, then turned and walked back.

_"And how, exactly, do you know each other?" _Yume asked in her mind, knowing Aieka was still reading it.

_"I'll have to tell you later, the next person is stepping up."_

"This is Yukina, an ice apparition." Naraku said.

They looked over, and saw a girl obviously of the Ice World walking toward them. The ice maiden had long blue-green hair that came to a little past her shoulder blades and, oddly enough, crimson eyes. She wore a modest kimono the color of pale blue and had an equally modest disposition.

She bowed politely, "Hello, pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you, too." they chimed.

She smiled and went back to the line.

A tall man stepped out next, standing at around six feet tall. He was a human with dark blue-black hair in typical man's cut and matching colored eyes the seemed to change with the lighting reflected off of them. He wore and old style dark purple suit-outfit of mixed Japanese and western design with a big tan trench coat over it and dress boots. They guessed his age to be in the mid to late twenties. He has a quiet elegance about him and a look of superiority. On his back was a very long sword, though there was something weird about how long it was. Unsheathing it must have been a bitch.

"This is Aoshi Shinomori, leader of the Oniwaban group."

Aoshi merely looked them over silently. Even his thoughts were silent.

"Nice sword." Aieka commented, not intending to say that aloud.

He looked at her, "Thank you."

_Nice butt, too, _Yume thought, with a smile.

_"Yume!!!" _Aieka yelled at her.

_"Oops. I didn't say that out loud, did I?!"_ Yume panicked.

_"No! But you were thinking it!!!"_

_"Well… You shouldn't have been reading my mind!"_

Aoshi went back to his place in line while they were conversing. A human woman started toward them. She had thick, long black hair, held back loosely by a white ribbon, that fell below her butt and had a purple hue to it. Her eyes were brown and seemed…dull, somehow devoid of soul. She wore the robes of a priestess, loose white top with loose baggy red pants, and wooden sandals. She looked to be twenty six or in the area. One her back was a bow and a quiver of arrows. Her skin was a very pale white, like stationary, and she stood at about Aieka's height.

They listened to her thoughts as she walked over: _That one on the right, _(Aieka), _has such perfectly-shaped breasts! Ooooh, and the other one, _(Yume),_ has beautiful legs. They look so smooth! And both their eyes…absolutely gorgeous! And such perfect figures, too! They can probably work miracles in bed. I mean, they seem vary flexible. Imagine how smooth their s-"_

_"MAKE IT STOP!!! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!!!" _Yume screamed in her mind, sheer panic showing on her face. She took a few steps back slowly.

_"It's so horrifying!!!" _Aieka agreed, trying as hard as she could to make sure she hid her distress from her face,_ "And disgusting! SHE'S A LESBIAN!!!!! A LESBIAN PRIESTESS!!!"_

But the woman had already gotten to them. Aieka adjusted her jacket to where it covered her chest and stomach, and then crossed her arms tightly over it. Yume stood to where her skirt-slits didn't show her legs.

The woman smiled, almost making them cringe, "Hello. My, you ladies look beautiful tonight!"

"Th-thank you." they stammered.

"This is Kikyo," Naraku informed, "She is a young priestess. The former guardian of the Shikon Jewel."

Aieka and Yume were glad when she turned and left.

A human monk stepped forward next. He had jet-black hair pulled back into a rat tail with the bangs left alone in the front and blue eyes and wore the black and purple robes of a monk with sandals. He had a purple cloth wrapped around his right wrist and palm of his hand with prayer beads and a gold ring holding it in place. His weapon was a golden staff.

He was smiling. _What beautiful women! _he thought as he walked toward them.

Aieka and Yume looked at each other, not sure of how to react. When they looked back at the man, he was gone! Suddenly, they both felt someone's hand caressing their butts. _And what tight little butts they have! _he added, looking pleased.

"And how are you fine ladies doing today?" he asked, still smiling, and stroking.

They both turned around and slapped him at the same time; Aieka hit the right cheek, Yume the left. They hit him so hard; he fell back on his butt.

"We're fine, thanks for changing that!" Yume said.

"Lecherous monk!" Aieka yelled at him, glaring again.

The monk crawled back to his place in line.

"And that," Naraku said, "was Miroku, a Buddhist monk."

Next in line was a female dog demon. She had short white hair, it only fell a little beyond her shoulders, and had golden brown eyes. Her white hair fell around her face and then feathered to the back. She was six feet tall and she wore a simple white and light blue kimono, light blue around the neck, wrists, and around the bottom hem, and she wore earrings with white feathers falling from them. On her feet were white stitched cloth shoes.

"This is Shizuka, a dog demon. She is a sorceress in training."

The girl quickly turned and returned to the line.

_"Strange girl."_ Aieka commented.

_"Yeah."_

Another female stepped forward. This girl was still young, about fourteen, and had orange-pink hair. It was pulled back into two meatball-looking buns in the back of her head with the rest of her hair coming out of the buns and falling to just past her shoulder blades. Her eyes were a pale orange and her chest was almost flat. She was wearing a white high school uniform and stood at around five foot five.

"This is Aishi, a young high school girl." Naraku stated.

Aishi came over to them and inspected them as closely as she dared.

Yume raised an eyebrow, "What's your problem?"

"Are you two demons?" she asked.

"No," Aieka replied sarcastically, "We're just humans with tails."

"Oh!" Aishi said happily, "That's good! There aren't many humans around here so we'll just cut off those weird tails a-"

"The hell you will!" Aieka yelled, prepared to strangle Aishi, "I'll kill you before you even get close enough to tou-"

Yume grabbed Aieka and restrained her the best she could before she could kill Aishi, "Calm down, Aieka! Aishi, haven't you heard of sarcasm?!"

But by then Aishi had already run back to the line and was huddled behind the banister.

"Make the evil doggie go away!" she cried.

"Did she just call me a…" Aieka growled, and then she yelled, "I'M A WOLF YOU IDIOT!!!"

"Anyway…" Naraku continued, "Will the next man please step forward?"

Aieka calmed down and Yume let her go. A very tall man began walking toward them. He had to be six feet tall, give or take and inch or two. His breed was that of a dog demon. He had shiny silver hair that went down to his knees. He wore the beautiful and elegant clothes of a nobleman; the red and white men's kimono with black armor over it tied with a gold and purple sash. The metal clasp of the armor over his left arm and a huge fluffy boa-like thing over the right shoulder. On his feet were soft leather shoes. On his forehead was the mark of the crescent moon and there were two red markings on the side of each of his cheeks. What had to be the most beautiful thing about him was his gorgeous golden eyes with a look to kill.

"This is Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands." Naraku said.

Yume bowed politely, "It is an honor to finally meet you, Lord Sesshomaru."

He remained silent; his only reaction was a nod. Aieka just stood there and looked him up and down.

"You don't bow." he stated, "Do you think you are my equal?"

"I only bow to those I believe deserve that level of respect from me." Aieka answered.

"And I am not in that category?"

"I'm not sure; I just met you, Sesshomaru."

Yume was just standing there watching. _Does she HAVE to insult EVERYONE she meets?! I mean, this guy is HOT, and she insults him! He's a hot LORD and she insults him!!!_

The man looked at Aieka, almost amused, for a moment, and then returned to the line.

The next man to step forward was a Wolf Demon. He had long black hair that was tied in a high pony-tail and he had on a fur headband. His eyes were a pale blue with slit pupils. He had a metal cuirass with fur on the shoulders and a fur kilt-like thing with a fur belt holding up a sword. On either wrist was a fur wrist band and on his feet were cloth wraps and there were fur wraps up his calves to his knees. You could see his tail went down to his knees and was brown like the fur he was wearing. He looked pretty attractive like most of the other men.

Naraku began to introduce him, "This is-"

"I'm Koga, leader of the Wolf Demon tribe. Nice to meet you two." Koga said, obviously stuck on himself.

"Uh… Pleased to meet you?" they said, questioning the look he was giving them.

He went behind them, stood between the two, and wrapped one arm around each of their waists, "Of course you are! Now, which of you beautiful ladies would like to be my woman?"

Aieka was about to slap him, suspecting he would put the same stunt Miroku did, but Yume's words beat her to him, "You're being way too fast! How easy do you think we are?!"

"Good one, Yume! It's nice to see some aggression in you!" Aieka cheered, smiling.

Koga went back to the line, a little disappointed, but not put down.

"Now you two," Naraku said, pointing at Aieka and Yume, "Time for your introductions."

Aieka stepped forward first.

"This is Aieka, also known as the Darkwolf." Naraku said as everyone looked her over, "She is half Spirit Wolf, half Fire Apparition. And, as most of you know, she's a well-known thief and assassin, hired and/or personal. But, as most of you don't know, she is also the leader of the Black Dragon Army."

There was some murmuring and wide staring in the group. Aieka stepped back and Yume stepped forward.

"This is Yume, the Lady of the Northern Lands. She is a pure-blooded Spirit Fox and a user of lightning."

There was more murmuring and Yume turned back, and stood by Aieka again.

"Now that introductions have been covered," Naraku finished, "we can mo-"

"Wait! Who are they?" Aishi asked, pointing at Ben and Chris.

"Oh, them," Naraku said, not really interested, "Aieka, Yume?"

"Fine, we'll introduce them." Yume said.

"Speak for yourself, onna." Aieka said, arms crossed.

Ben and Chris were still sitting in their chairs, scared looks plastered their faces.

"That one on the right, the tall and skinny one, is Chris." Yume said, "Aieka?"

She sighed, "Whatever, let's make this quick. I'm not a game show host, you know. The one with the fat ass," Aieka said, pointing at the fatter one, "Is-"

But just as she was saying his name, Ben's chair collapsed under him!

"Baka!" she yelled angrily.

"His name is Baka?" several asked.

Aieka was about to say no, then smirked evilly when an interesting thought came to her, "Yes, strangely accurate name, isn't it?"

Hiei laughed a little under his breath, knowing what she was thinking.

"Don't listen to that bitch," Ben said, trying to defend himself, "My name is-"

_"Contradict me and you will lose something of your manhood!!!"_ Aieka threatened, pleased by her work. _That's if there is really anything there at all…_

Ben, now Baka, was silenced immediately.

"It is quite fitting," Hiei said, knowing what just happened.

"If we are truly finished," Naraku continued, "I will now tell you the rules of the mansion, and it's grounds."


	4. Trapped in Paradise

**Chapter Four: The Eight Commandments of Naraku, Trapped in Paradise**

"What do you mean 'rules'? We're not staying her! It's nice and all, but I've got places to go and people to kill." Aieka claimed.

"On the contrary, you are staying." Naraku said.

Aieka drew her sword, "Sorry Naraku, not to seem ungrateful, but you will not hold me here against my will. Right, Yume?"

Yume didn't answer.

"Yume?" she asked, turning to look at her.

Yume hadn't heard her, or Naraku. She was standing, her back to Aieka, staring at Sesshomaru. _She's probably drooling, too, _Aieka figured. She turned back to Naraku, twitching.

"Forget I mentioned her..." then she prepared to kill him, "But you are not h-"

"Don't try, you will only embarrass yourself." Hiei said, "Perhaps even more than that fool." he added, glancing at Yume who was still staring at an oblivious Sesshomaru.

"I don't think that's possible." Aieka mumbled under her breath, then she turned back to Hiei, "But what do you mean?"

"Do you really think I would still be here if I could have killed him? I would have killed him long ago and been out of this hellhole. He also has a strong spirit barrier around the perimeter of the mansion's grounds."

"I suppose your right then. It would be pointless." she agreed, sheathing her sword, "Damn! Now what then?"

"We are forced to stay, obviously."

Aieka sighed and stood next to Hiei by the stairs and they waited for the "rules" to be read off.

"The first rule is: You are not permitted to kill one another." Naraku said.

"Damn!" Aieka, Hiei, Sesshomaru, and Rio exclaimed simultaneously, making everyone jump.

That snapped Yume out of her trance, "Huh? What? Damn what?"

"Damn you if you don't stop staring at Sesshomaru!" Aieka said.

"The second rule is: You are not to make attempts at breaking the barrier surrounding the grounds."

"I thought I sensed a barrier going up…" Yume said, becoming serious.

_But can your barrier and this house sustain a Mystic Dragon attack, Naraku?! I will be freed from here! _Both Aieka and Hiei thought, separately.

They both caught everyone off guard and took stances facing the front door.

"DRAGON OF THE DARKNESS FLA-" they began to call, but stopped when they heard the other.

"Y-you can use the Black Dragon, too…?" they said, simultaneously once again.

Then they just stood there, staring at each other in amazement.

Naraku recovered and took advantage of this, "Third rule! You are not to try to destroy the mansion!" he said quickly.

Aieka started growling, "We should have just used it and been out of here."

"If you hadn't startled me, I would have!" Hiei mumbled.

"I can say the same thing."

_Children… _Kurama thought, sighing mentally and shaking his head.

"Rule four: You are not to try to make contact with the outside world."

"You mean…NO BEING ABLE TO ORDER CHINESE FOOD?!?!" Baka cried, beginning to tear.

"Nope," Yume said, "You could use a change in your diet anyway!"

"I'm not fat; I'm just big-boned!"

"Sure, Baka…" Aieka said, smirking.

"Fifth rule: All rules set forth by I, Naraku, are to be obeyed, whenever they are issued."

"_So_ smooth, Naraku." Yume said, rolling her eyes.

"What will happen to those who break your rules, Naraku?" Miroku asked.

"Yes," Kikyo said, backing him, "What are your punishments?"

Everyone was staring at Naraku.

"Execution," he answered, smirking darkly.

"Figures," Aieka said, rolling her eyes, "He can't think of anything creative."

"Rule six," Naraku continued, ignoring her comment, "You must stay here for two years. But there are some exceptions…"

"Such as?" Kurama asked before anyone else could.

"Death for instance."

"No shit. I didn't think you were going to kill someone then resurrect them. What else?" Aieka said, getting really annoyed at how redundant his rules were.

"That's about it actually." he said.

Many of the group sweat dropped at this. _I won't bother asking anymore…_ Aieka thought.

"Rule seven: You are not to use sorcery on any other participants, nor I, Naraku."

"But…" Shizuka said, "That's my power! What else can I do to protect myself?!"

"You'll think of something when the time comes." Naraku replied.

"But I ca-"

"Rule eight," Naraku continued, cutting her off, "This is the last rule. You are to complete any task officially issued to you. Is all understood?"

Everyone mumbled a "yes", or something similar.

"Good. I will now issue you your rooms."

Naraku reached into a pocket, and pulled out a key ring, "The males are in the East Wing, and females in the West. All sleeping quarters are upstairs."

"Which way is West?" Aishi asked.

Everyone stared at her.

"Baka onna." Aieka and Hiei said.

"Oh God, not again," Aieka muttered as they stared at each other again, "This is getting REALLY strange."

"Umm…" Naraku said, "Ignoring what just happened, there will be two people to a room."

He then put the keys on the table on the right of the staircase.

"I will start with the males. Hiei and Sesshomaru: room 01. Kurama and Rio: room 02. Aoshi and Miroku: room 03. Koga and Touya: room 04…" then he glanced at Baka and Jake, "Since I wasn't expecting another pair, you two get the storage room in the basement. It has only the spare bed; you'll have to share it…"

Aieka and Yume stifled their giggles.

Then he started to issue the females rooms, "Aishi and Kikyo: room 05. Shizuka and Yukina: room 06. Aieka and Yume: room 07."

Everyone paired up with their roommate, and grabbed their keys.

"One more thing, I have arranged a list of who has to cook. The list is arranged in alphabetical order. This person has to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone."

He gave everyone a list.

"But… I'm first!" Aieka said.

"That's what the list says…" Kurama accidentally said out-loud.

"I can read, Kurama. How early do I have to be up for this?"

"About eight? Why? Is that too inconvenient for you?" Naraku said, walking toward the door.

"I wasn't complaining. Eight, fine. I might cook it…"

"You'd better," Naraku said as he went out the front door, "I told you the consequences of disobeying an order. And to the rest of you, you are to go to your rooms for the rest of the night."

Then he was gone.


	5. Fine, So Maybe It Isn't That Bad Here

**Chapter Five: Fine, So Maybe It Isn't _That_ Bad Here…**

"I cannot believe that Naraku thinks he can rule me!" Aieka growled.

"Shut up, it's not like throwing yourself into a rage will do you any good." Yume said.

After Naraku left, everyone went to their respective rooms. They were too tired to do anything else. Exploring the rest of the mansion would be tomorrow's task, for no one had seen anything of the rest of it except the hall and the corridors leading to their rooms. (Everyone, except Aieka and Yume, had been held in the library when they arrived.)

All the rooms, as they noticed, were almost identical. It was a large room with one bay window with seats. There were two beds, one on each half of the room, and there was a reed, semi-see-through curtain separating the halves of the room. One half had the bay window, the other had the door. There were two nightstands, two large pivot mirrors, and two closets. The walls were a cream-white and there was a cherry-wood border running the edge of the ceiling, and floor. The head and foot boards of the beds, and the nightstands were also cherry wood. The sheets were white and the comforters blood-red. The pillows were white with blood-red abstract designs. Near the closets there were little sitting areas consisting of two cushy chairs and a coffee table.

"Fine, I guess I'll shut up. What's in our closets? Did Naraku really get us clothes?"

As Yume was walking to her closet, as was Aieka, she glanced in the mirror as she passed.

"Oh…my…God… WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!"

Yume had shining black hair that ended mid-way down her thigh. She was about five-foot-six. She was wearing a long skirt with thigh-high slits. It had a metallic silver background with a sakura-pink floral design on it. She was wearing a long-sleeved halter-top that had the same design as her skirt on it. It also had slits in the shoulders. Her eyes were dark purple and her claws were painted sakura-pink. She had a black tail that ended two inches above the ground and black fox ears.

"Hey, look, I'm hot!" Aieka said, staring at her reflection in her mirror.

"So, this is what Naraku meant? This is what we looked like?"

"Apparently," Aieka answered, and then she laughed, "I always wanted a tail. So I guess I was actually missing it the whole time."

Then she went to her closet. Yume stopped staring at herself and went to hers.

Aieka's clothes were all black and crimson. Yume's were sakura pink and silver.

"Well, I see he knew my colors of choice." Aieka said.

"Kind of scary that he knew more about us than we did, though."

"I know. Where did he get my sword from, though? I mean, I know I am a well-know apparition, but still. I hid my body so well, and no one knew I died for sure… I was buried with this sword."

"And, if you died, why did he call you an incarnation and not a reincarnation?"

"Because I passed my spirit into limbo and reincarnated myself, memories and all. But my memories were dormant, so I couldn't remember anything. So, though my body died, I really didn't die."

"So I did die…" Yume said, looking down.

"Yeah, but you're back now. Be glad for that," then she paused, "So how old were you when you died, by the way?"

"I died young; only twenty-eight. What about you?"

"Four-hundred and two." Aieka said casually.

Yume got a weird look on her face, "I know demons age slowly and all, but shouldn't you look A LOT older? You still look like a teenager,"

"Spirit Animals don't age once they reach their physical maturity. Usually, that's around age nineteen for females and mid-twenty for males. I reached mine at age seventeen, so I look seventeen and I will look seventeen until I die. You're a Spirit Fox, you should know all of this!"

"Oh yeah…forgot…hehe…" Yume said, still staring at herself.

"Loser."

- - -

_(the next morning…)_

Aieka was in the kitchen cooking. She was wearing black pants and an unusually tight black shirt. _I think Naraku might have screwed up my clothes sizes; this thing is too tight in the chest!_

The kitchen was on the first floor on the west side. Naraku had actually had a modern kitchen put in. It was large and had an island sink, stove, and dishwasher. There was a refrigerator and freezer stuffed with food and so were the cabinets. There had to be every single ingredient ever known in that kitchen. Connected to it was a large dining room.

When everything was finished, she started to put the food out on the table. She made several large omelets, twenty pieces of toast, a large batch of breakfast fried rice, and fried some slices of ham. Then she put out orange juice, a plate of fresh fruit from the trees in the orchard behind the house, butter, and jam, and set the table.

The first person to come in was Kurama.

He gave her a nice smile, "Good morning, Aieka."

"Hey, Kurama, have a seat. Eat if you want, everyone else is late." she said as she sat down and grabbed a peach.

"You cooked all of this, and all you eat is fruit?" he asked, sitting across from her and serving himself.

"I usually don't eat in the morning, so I'm not hungry."

"Oh. Well, actually, the others aren't late, I came early. I needed to talk to you." then he added, "Alone."

"Hn," was all she replied.

Then she stood up and acted like she forgot napkins. The way his eyes looked into hers when he said that last part made her blush. She got the napkins and began putting one at every place setting. Males, no matter how good they look, usually never had that effect on her. And she had encountered her share of hot guys in her lifetime…or rather existence.

"What about?" she asked casually, her hair making a curtain to hide her face.

"Do you remember how we met?"

Her color had returned to normal and she sat down again.

"Of course I do." she replied as the memory resurfaced in both their minds.

- - -

_There was a village in Demon World that surrounded a castle. Within the ancient castle, there was a jewel. It was called the Shadow Jewel and there was a myth that it possessed a great power. The demons around the castle guarded the Jewel for some unknown reason of tradition._

_Aieka, along with her partner Tatsu, decided to raid the place and steal the Jewel. Aieka took the Northern side of the village, Tatsu the Southern. They would both head for the castle at the center and whoever got there first would search the castle while the other would hold off the remaining demons._

_It happened to be that Aieka got there first. But when she got there, she wasn't alone. Someone else burst into the room and they both reached the Jewel at the same time. When each saw the other, they jumped back and drew their weapon; Aieka her sword, the other thief a vine whip._

_"Who are you?!" Aieka demanded, "This Jewel is mine so leave and I will spare you!"_

_"I am Yoko Kurama, not that I believe it really matters to you, and no, I got here first!"_

_The tower shook and some sections of the ceiling began to fall around the two. A small fight ensued but neither was winning. So they stopped, panting._

_"Yoko Kurama? I've heard of you. You're a wanted bandit. I'm Aieka, the Darkwolf."_

_"Why do you want the Jewel? An assassin such as you wouldn't need it." Yoko said._

_"You know what it does?"_

_"It can erase memories." he replied._

_"Erase memories? Bu-"_

_Aieka was going to say more, but the tower was definitely coming down. The Jewel was still sitting on the pedestal in the center. Aieka could hear Tatsu calling her to come back down. The stairs to the tower were collapsing.._

_She ran for the stairs, "You can have it, I don't need it!"_

_"I didn't expect you to say that. Thanks." he said, snatching the Jewel off its pedestal._

_They were going their separate ways when Yoko turned, "Hey, maybe I'll see you again. We can meet on a more… intimate basis. After all, you don't look too bad, Aieka." he said with a smirk._

_"Maybe, you don't look to bad yourself." Aieka said, looking him up and down, smirking, too._

_- - -_

"It was…interesting." Aieka commented.

_What in seven hells possessed me to lead him on?!?! _She looked at him again, _I'll have to thank it…_

Kurama chuckled, "Yes it was."

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"The Jewel."

Aieka's temporary bliss shot straight to hell. _I actually thought he might have been interested in me… _she thought. _Figures…_

"What about it?" she said in a depressed sigh accidentally.

Kurama didn't seem to notice, "I want you to have it."

She looked over at him and he was holding out a dark blue Jewel on a silver chain. It was the Shadow Jewel.

"I have no need for it anymore." he said.

"But I have no need for it either. I didn't have one to begin with!"

"Take it, Aieka." he said, taking her hand and putting the Jewel into her palm.

She sighed, "Fine."

He smiled at her again. _Damn, he looks good!_ she thought, turning away from him.

Then Koga came in.

"Hey, baby, how you doin'?" he said, trying to hug Aieka.

"Fine, Koga. You mind getting off?" she answered, pushing him off.

"That's good. So, what do you think about becoming my woman? You decided yet? I mean, Yume kinda cut you off yesterday." Koga said, sitting diagonally from her.

Too close for comfort, even if the table was between them.

Just as she was about to tell him "no", Aoshi came in.

"Hey." he said, finding a seat.

"Hey, Aoshi." they all chimed.

"Damn all these interruptions…" Koga mumbled.

One by one, the others started to show up until only Rio, Sesshomaru, Hiei, and Yume were missing. Aieka was half asleep now and had her head on the table.

"What time is it?" Aieka asked no one in particular.

"A quarter past nine." Kurama told her.

She sighed, "I'm going to kill Yume when she gets her."

"Good morning, Aieka!" Yume suddenly yelled from behind her.

Aieka quickly turned and grabbed Yume's neck and almost ripped it out but then noticed it was Yume.

"Uh, sorry Yume." she said, removing her hand.

Yume rubbed her neck and sat next to her, "Remind me not to startle you again."

"You should have killed her." someone said from the doorway, "At least then she would leave me alone."

"Sesshomaru," Aieka said, without turning, "Sorry about Yume, she gets like that sometimes."

Sesshomaru took a seat.

Another ten minutes went by. Aieka got up to get some sugar when Hiei showed up. He stayed in the doorway.

"Aieka, what are your…theme colors?" he asked.

"Black and crimson, why?"

"I think Naraku got our clothes mixed-up." he said quietly.

"Dare I ask why?"

He held up a skirt, "Unless that idiot has a really distorted image about my sexuality, that must be the case."

Aieka felt feint, "You didn't get any other types of clothing of mine, did you?"

She could here some giggling coming from the table in the dining hall.

Hiei took out another hanger with a halter top.

"Anything else?" Aieka asked, dreading an answer.

"I don't think Naraku is THAT twisted," Hiei said, knowing what she was thinking of.

Aieka felt better, "Well, that explains why this top is so tight and these pants are so loose. We should switch the clothes back though."

"Later." Hiei said, sitting down next to the place Aieka had been sitting.

Aieka sat down and took a piece of meat and began to eat it and Hiei served himself.

Miroku spoke between bites, "How could Naraku get a female's and a male's clothes mixed up though? I mean, I get that your colors are the same, but still."

"It's because he's an idiot," the two assassins said, just before they bit into a piece of food.

Once again, that surprised them.

"Look's like Aieka finally found her soul mate," Baka mumbled, continuing to eat a piece of toast.

"I heard that, Baka!" Aieka said, throwing a balled up napkin at his forehead.

It bounced off of his huge, cushiony forehead, "So?"

She stood up and ran over to him in the time it takes to blink and snatched away his plate before he could stab a piece of meat off of it. Her own speed surprised her. _Damn, I forgot I could run that fast. I love this!_

"Hey! I wasn't done with that, Aieka!" Baka wined.

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut then," Aieka said as she scraped the remainder of his food into the garbage.

Ben took his piece of toast and left, muttering curses under his breath.

Aieka took her seat again just as Rio came in. He put his hand on her shoulder, startling her slightly.

"You seem, tense, Aieka." he said, not removing his hand.

"Not really, he just annoys me." Aieka said stiffly.

He took the seat on her other side and took some meat, "Too bad we can't kill here. Otherwise, I would kill him as a gift to you."

"Interesting gift." Yume said.

Rio gave her a spine-chilling glare that stopped her from continuing.

He turned back to Aieka, changing his expression to that of interest, "We still need to have that talk."

"Well, I'm done," she said, "If any of you need me, I'll be checking out the rest of this place."

"I know a place you could be checking out." Miroku said, suddenly behind her, hand rubbing her butt, "It's my bedroom. I need you right now, Aieka. Really need you, and in all the right ways. And I bet you feel the same about me, don't you?"

"YOU PERVERT!!!!!" Aieka screamed, turning quickly and delivering a devastating slap to his face, "I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!!"

She was just about to too, when Yume, Touya, and Kurama grabbed her.

"You shouldn't!" Kurama warned, straining, "Naraku will kill you!"

"Yeah," Yume said, scrambling for an excuse Aieka would accept, "Let's go see if there's a training hall in this place."

Aieka seemed to calm down at the mention of training, "That sounds good."

Then she quit struggling, and somehow got out of all their grips to stand next to her chair. She had gotten free so fast that they all fell backwards from the lack of resistance. The three of them lay in a tangled nest of arms and legs for a moment before they scrambled to their feet. The remainder of those at the table laughed or looked amused.

Aieka and Yume left. Miroku got up and started for his seat.

As he passed, Rio got up in a flash and pinned Miroku to the wall, a dagger to his throat.

"You had better keep your distance from my woman, lecher. If you _ever_ touch her like that again, I'll shove your hand up your ass!!!" Rio snarled wolfishly.

"If was nothing personal!" Miroku pleaded, "It's the hand! It's possessed!"

"I can fix that hand for you, monk." Rio said, smiling sinisterly while grabbing Miroku's "possessed" hand and putting the dagger to it.

"That won't be necessary, Rio." Miroku said, sweating profusely.

"Just keep away from Aieka." Rio commanded, letting him go and leaving.

Everyone just kind of stared at him as he left. _He's a psycho… _They thought.

Miroku sank to the ground, attempting to calm down.

"That explains Aieka's behavior around him." Kurama said after a moment, "So they either were, or are, lovers."

Koga growled, "Why do all the good women have to be claimed?! Well, there's still Yume…" then he trailed off, looking over an oblivious Yume.

_That also explains the visions she had last night when she saw him,_ Hiei thought, _But didn't she claim he died during the War of Blades?_ Then he got up and silently left the room.

- - -

_(a few minutes later in the Training Room)_

"I have to admit, Naraku may have redeemed himself with this training room. It reminds me so much of the one I had back home." Aieka said.

"I don't remember you having a training room…" Yume said, "Or do you mean back home as in, "back then" when you weren't a human?"

"The latter. Look, Yume," Aieka said, turning to her, "Let's forget about being human. I really don't want to remember anyway… Things were better in my earlier life, my real life."

"Well, okay. You have a point; my old life was a lot more interesting,"

"Good," Aieka said, "Pick a weapon! You need one."

They were in the first floor training room. It took up most of the Northern Wing. The remaining third held a large library. There were all kinds of weapons lining the walls; spears, swords, whips, scythes, axes, ect. There were bay windows with seating on the northern and western walls. The floor was wooden.

"It pick… This!" Yume said, pulling a weapon off a rack on the east wall.

It was both a spear, and a scythe. It was made of a black, light-weight, yet solid metal. On one end was a midnight-blue spear point, on the other was a shining, silver half-moon scythe, polished to a mirror-shine. There was also a vine design carved into the scythe. The spear-point was actually heavier than the scythe, meaning it was only there as an extra, the scythe was the primary weapon.

"Excellent choice, Yume. It's a beautiful weapon. I would have taken it if you hadn't." Aieka praised.

"Thanks." Yume said, taking it back and looking at her with shifty eyes, "Don't you get any ideas about stealing it."

"Stealing it would be pointless; how could I use it without you noticing? We're trapped, remember?"

Then they heard a strong voice boom from both everywhere, and nowhere, "Attention, will everyone please report to the meeting Hall. It is located on the first floor. Enter the door on the East Wall."

"Who is this?" Yume asked.

"I am… I am God!" the voice boomed, then followed it up with a loud laugh.

"Uh, sorry. But your not, God," Aieka said.

"Who is to say I'm not, woman?!" the voice asked, "What makes you say this?"

Aieka leaped up, grabbed a bar that was hanging from the ceiling, and flipped to stand on it. She looked at the speaker in the ceiling.

"Because God doesn't need a PA system." she said, "You're Naraku!"

"I tell you, woman, I am God!"

"Yeah, or so you think." Yume said as Aieka dropped back to the ground and they walked to the door, "Well, "God", we'll see you in the Meeting Hall."


	6. Aieka and Rio, The Forbidden Romance

**Note: Review...Or I'll cut you... .O (twitch, twitch) I'll send a hooded man wearing a long jet-black robe to your house in the dead of night as you sleep to cut you with my trusty rusted butterknife... And then he'll feed all your Twinkies and Debbie Cakes to Ben...and he'll make you watch, and then you'll cry...and I will laugh... **

**Chapter Six: Aieka and Rio, The Forbidden Romance**

Everyone was gathered in the meeting hall but there was no sign of Naraku.

"Naraku, you idiot!" Rio yelled, "I was in the middle of taking a herbal bath-" he stopped and looked at everyone with shifty eyes, "I mean training! You better have a good reason for interrupting me!!!"

About ten people turned around and gave him the same look from breakfast. _Psycho…_

Suddenly the lights went out and a door opened in the ceiling. Everyone with a weapon in the room readied themselves. Then a light fog drifted from the door and a white light shown down from it.

"What the hell?" several said.

Then angelic music started to play and a man slowly began descending from the ceiling.

"…Naraku…?" Yume mumbled.

Naraku was being slowly lowered from the ceiling with his hands clasped in prayer position and cheap papier-mâché angel wings on his back.

Everyone just stared, both shocked and disturbed.

Then the cord lowering him on the right side, caught on something but the left one kept dropping, so he was slowly dropping sideways. Then the record player he was using to play the music started skipping.

"Oh…shit…" Naraku muttered.

Then the record player exploded and the strings caught on fire and he fell on his head in the center of the room.

Everyone was just too disturbed to say anything. Naraku started to get up and dust himself off and everyone finally burst out laughing.

"Shut up!!!!" Naraku yelled.

Then one of his wings fell off and everyone laughed louder. After a few seconds they got quiet again.

"What do you want now, you bastard?" Koga yelled.

"I just wanted to make sure you all made it through your first night." Naraku answered.

"I barely did!" Chris yelled, "Fat ass here rolled over and nearly killed me! I want another bed for the storage room!!!"

Naraku tried not to laugh at the hilarious image that formed and ignored him, "Anyway, from here on, I will have a casualty sheet put here in the meeting hall along with a copy of the rules that my beautiful and extremely intelligent mind has created. At the end of each month you are to come and sign the names of the ones that have died or broken a rule so I will know how may of you have survived so far. I will oversee the executions."

Kurama gave him an odd look, "But wouldn't you know automatically if one of us died or broke the rules…?"

"… Yes… But…" he shook it off, "Just sign the damn roll sheet and quit confusing me and my glorious plans!!!!"

Then he jumped back up the trap door and shut it, leaving everyone in the darkness.

"He is so… stupid and cheap!!!" Yume yelled.

Everyone nodded and started walking out the door. Yume took her new scythe and started trying to find their room again. Sesshomaru was avoiding her at all cost. Aieka started after her when Hiei stopped her.

"What do you want?" she asked, though not really annoyed by him.

After all, she was going to be stuck with all of the people in the house for who knows how long.

"The clothes?" he said neutrally.

"Oh yeah, forgot," she cursed Naraku's stupidity for the billionth time that day, "Just take me to your room first."

Hiei lead her to his and Sesshomaru's room and Aieka was greeted by a blade to her throat. The wielder was Sesshomaru himself.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Hiei yelled at him.

Sesshomaru looked at Aieka again, "Oh. I thought you were that other woman. Excuse me."

He took away the sword, but continued to block the way. Aieka motioned behind him.

"I sort of need to get into the room, you know."

"Why does Yume keep following me. That is her name, right?"

Hiei started to look annoyed.

"Yes," Aieka answered, "And we can continue this conversation _in_ the room."

"It's in your best interest too," Hiei added, "Because the girl whom you seem to dread seeing is coming down the hall…"

Sesshomaru grabbed her by the front of her-shirt-that-wasn't-really-hers and tossed her into the room with blinding speed and Hiei stepped in just as Sesshomaru slammed and locked the door. Aieka sat up against the bed and looked down at the shirt; it now had five claw marks in it.

"Damn," she exclaimed, "What did Yume do to you?!"

"She was chasing me all over the house asking me disturbing questions and talking about how she wanted to bare my children and clinging to me…" he fixed the fluffy boa over his shoulder, "She tried to steal my boa…"

Aieka cocked her head, "So that really is a boa…THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS WHOLE TIME!!!"

Sesshomaru and Hiei looked at her oddly.

She laughed nervously, "Ignore that…"

"I will…" they both said.

Aieka stood up and followed Hiei over to his curtained-off side of the room. Sesshomaru stood and listened for Yume's movements in the hallway. _Poor guy._ Aieka thought. Hiei opened up his closet and she saw, sure enough, all of the clothes in the closet were hers. Mini skirts, form-fitted pants, halter tops, open jackets, slit dresses, and form-fitted shirts. All in black, crimson, or black with crimson designs on them. She sighed.

"How could he have possibly…" she stopped, "Might as well not even finish the question…"

Hiei shrugged and Aieka started pulling everything out of the closet. They worked in silence. After she had everything piled onto the bed, Hiei decided he would start talking to her.

"How do you know Ryo?"

Aieka inhaled sharply at the name, but then quickly came to her senses, "Why?"

"Because you seem to act strangely around him," he paused, looking her over, "And apparently at his name, also."

She just started gathering up her clothes, "I don't think that's any of your business."

He moved to block her way, "You aren't leaving."

She tried to walk around him, "Watch me."

He let her go by, but stayed with her in her mind. _Sesshomaru won't let you open that door. That friend of yours is still out there and he won't give her the slightest opportunity to get near him again. He avoids her like she's his own personal plague._

Aieka knew this was true when she felt him watching her. Knowing she was defeated, she growled and walked back over to his side of the room and dropped the clothes back on the bed. _Damn you!_

He smirked darkly, but did nothing more.

She put her hands on her hips, "So, I guess I'm at your mercy?"

Hiei shrugged and sat down in a chair and gestured for her to take the other. Aieka sighed and went ahead and sat in it. She glanced over at Sesshomaru. He seemed to be completely focused on listening for Yume. She turned back to Hiei who was waiting patiently for her to continue. After all, she was going to have to tell him what he wanted to know if she wanted out of the room. That or she would have to wait out Sesshomaru's paranoia…right, better to answer the questions if she expected to make it out of the room within the next two years.

Aieka sighed again, "What do you want to know?"

"How do you and Ryo know each other?"

She looked out the window. A light snow had started outside. She had never told anyone about the two of them except Katsu, her loyal guard at the Kuro Ryuu.

"We used to be lovers…a long time ago."

"Used to be?"

"He died."

"Interesting. So he's only here because Naraku resurrected him?"

"As am I, yes."

"Continue."

"When we were young, Drake, the other leader of the Black Dragons, told Ryo to train me in using my Spirit Energy properly. I was only one of the higher guards at that time. I used to burn myself pretty bad whenever I tried to use a fire attack. I was…eleven or so. Ryo was thirteen and already an assistant to the general; his father. He was on a level plane with his father when it came to battle skill, but they couldn't let a thirteen year old be general of the greatest organized military force in all of the Makai. Ryo was a child prodigy, really. He had mastered almost all kinds of martial arts by then. A B Class apparition already.

"Anyway, we didn't get along very well at first. We were both stubborn and self centered. I, of course, was too proud at first to really accept his help. I trained with him twice a week at the beginning. I would be too badly hurt or too pissed to see him anymore than that. Two years later, we were training by a cliff-side when there was an earthquake. When it started, Ryo had lost his footing and couldn't regain it. The part of the cliff that he was standing on started to crack and it broke off. At the last second, I caught him and pulled him back up. After that, he seemed to accept me and we became friends.

"When Ryo was seventeen, his father died in battle. It really devastated him and he locked himself in his room, refusing to eat, sleep, or speak. He wouldn't even talk to me. We knew he wasn't sleeping because you could hear him pacing back and forth and talking to himself. After a month, though, we couldn't hear any movement in his room anymore. Finally, I resolved to break into the room. When I got in, he was passed out by the window, exhaustion finally catching up to him I guess. He looked…frail sitting there like that. When I went over to him, he woke up suddenly and, in his delirium, almost kill me. He had me by the throat and was strangling me. After that wore off and he recognized me, he just kind of…I don't know…seemed to…crack. He didn't cry or anything; he just let me go then started holding me, really tight like I was going to fade into nothing if he let go. Even though it was him that was hurt, I felt small there like that. Awkward too because no one had ever held me like that in my whole life.

"Neither of us said anything for…what felt like five lifetimes. All I remember was it being really quiet except for his breathing. Then he started talking. I still don't know if he was really talking to me or to himself. _"He's gone now, Tomeiru, my father. It hurts, him being gone, even though I never really knew him. At least not as a father. My family's dead now, Aieka. My mother, my sister Ayane, and now my father… I don't have anyone left to fight for now… I have no one to protect… I have no one… Maybe…because I now have no purpose…I should…I'm supposed to die…" _I just stood there and listened to him, feeling useless and out of place. Ryo was basically bearing himself to me, through and through, and I couldn't say anything to help him. I lived for myself, as I always had, but he wanted a purpose. It made me wonder, why am I here? What do _I _live for? Then I saw, it wasn't about me. It was about him. But then, how could I help him with that when I hadn't even thought to look for my own purpose? But I tried anyway, _"What about the Kuro Ryuu? Isn't that why you're here? Why we're all here? To protect our leader?" _He pulled away a little to look at me then, a confused look on his face. _"You're kidding right? I abhor Drake." "Then why are you here?" _He paused then to think about it. _"Tradition, I guess." _We stood there for a little longer, staring at each other. Then I asked, _"Why are you still holding me?" _He looked down, _"I… It just felt…right to at the time… Why?" _Then it just hit me. He was going to kill himself because he felt there was nothing left for him and I was just going to let him. I cared about him, really. I liked being with him and…I didn't want him to die. So, in one rush of emotions I didn't know I had, I just blurted the next part out. _"Ryo?" "Yeah?" "I…I love you!" _And I…kissed him. Tongue and all. What was I thinking? I have no bloody clue. But in that moment, and Ryo's sheer shock at what I did, I saw that, I really did love him. I found my purpose then. I was there for him. If there really was no other reason for my existence, then that was it: I lived for him.

"When I finally did let him go, I just stared at him some more, wondering what his reaction would be. He kissed me back. (With more practice, I might add.) After that we were just…together. That's how it happened…"

Aieka had said all of that while looking out the window. When she looked back, she saw Hiei's full attention still on her. She looked over to make sure Sesshomaru was still looking at the door only to find him looking right back at her. He looked away again to the door.

"Hey!" Aieka yelled angrily, "You could have been less obvious with your eavesdropping, you know! It isn't like I didn't notice!!!"

He turned to look at her again, "Eavesdropping? I have no clue what you're talking about. I wasn't even aware you two were talking…"

"Whatever, you bastard!" Aieka mumbled.

"You know you shouldn't mumble, it's rude."

"Fine then! What I said was, "Whatever, you bastard!" Happy now?!"

"Both of you, shut up." Hiei said calmly.

Aieka looked at him, "Well you wouldn't have to deal with me if you would just let me go."

"I have what I want now, you can go."

"Sesshomaru?" she asked.

"That wretched little friend of yours left a minute ago to go find you, so you can leave."

Aieka quickly gathered up her clothes again and flew out the door. Once in the hallway she started to run to her room. But when she turned the corner, someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her back into the hallway. She looked up and saw Yume.

"What'd you do that for?!" Aieka demanded.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING IN SESSHOMARU'S ROOM?! HE'S MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!!!" Yume screamed, throwing a temper tantrum.

"But-"

"I'll never forgive you for that!!!"

"Wha-"

"We were going to get married and have five kids: Zip, Zap, Zang, Zing, and Ulysses! But you-"

"SHUT UP ALRE-!!! Wait, what did you say your children's names were going to be?" then she shook her head, "Nev-"

"I said Zip, Zap, Zang, Zing, and Ul-"

"Never mind!!! Anyway I wasn't with Sesshomaru! He was just trying to get away from you! I was with Hiei-"

"You were with the shorter one…?"

Aieka gasped, "NOT LIKE THAT YOU PERVERT!!! I was getting my clothes!"

Yume smirked, "Right…clothes. It doesn't take that long to get some clothes… And why were your clothes in his room…?"

"PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! . Grr!!!!!"

Then Miroku walked out of his room, "Someone call me?"

"NO!" they both yelled.

"Okay, call me if you need me! I'll be right here… waiting…"

"Friggin' perv." Yume said.

Aieka picked up her stuff, "Well then, I guess I'll be off!"

"Wait!" Yume said, "So, how was it with Hi-"

"I SAID IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!!!" Aieka yelled.

"Riiiiiight. I'm sure."

Then Aieka's eyes got big.

"What?" Yume asked.

"Umm…"

"What?!"

Aieka pointed.

Yume looked down, "What, did my boobs shrink or something?"

Aieka pointed again.

"Oh," she said, "You're trying to get out of talking about what you were doing in Hiei's room, aren't you?"

Aieka started backing away slowly and shaking her head, "Shut up! If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up now…!!!"

"You know you don't scare me with your threats anymore, Aieka, I know you won't kill me. You said it yourself-"

"It's not me you need to worry about, it's what behind you!"

Then, with a very pathetic whimper, Aieka dashed away down the hall.

"Wha…?!"

Yume slowly turned around. Ryo stood right behind her, grinning in a very happy and yet distinctly unsettling way.

"Now," he said in a voice that was way too calm and sweet to be true, "Who did you say she was with…alone…in a bedroom…a _locked_ bedroom…?"

Yume laughed nervously as his eyes bore holes into hers, "Why?"

He smiled showing a nice row of sharp white teeth, "No particular reason, just wanting to keep tabs on my beloved, _trusted_ girlfriend and her…new male acquaintances."

"I have no clue what you're talking about…hehe…bye bye!"

Yume dashed down the hall, scarcely missed by Ryo's lightning fast grab for her hair.

Neither girl could be found until noon.


	7. Black Roses and Psychopathic Romance

**Chapter Seven: Of Black Roses and (Psychopathic) Romance**

Aieka steeled herself and stole a peek around the corner of the house. _No Rio…thank God!! _Then she dashed to the front door. No, the front door was too big and noisy; he would hear it and be in the main hall before she could step one foot inside. She let go of the door handle and started to sneak over to one of the windows. She wouldn't even have come out of hiding if it weren't for the fact that she had to cook lunch in about half and hour.

She stopped. How was she going to cook lunch without Rio finding her anyway?! She hadn't really thought about that… He knew she had cooking duty and was probably in the kitchen waiting for her right now! _Damn Naraku once again!!! _This one was complicated. She could either just walk in and take it like the warrior she is, or keep futilely creeping around the house until she was inevitably caught. She looked around. What was she thinking?! She is a warrior! She can't keep hiding like this! She has a reputation to uphold!

Aieka triumphantly started walking toward the door. And then, just as her foot hit the stone pathway…! She dashed around the house. What the hell was she talking about, being a warrior?! This isn't an army she was talking about, (she could wipe them out in half a second), this was _Rio_. Screw her reputation; this was about survival! There wasn't anyone to see her outside anyway. She had to remember, he wasn't known as "Rio, The (Psychotic) Gothic Killer" for nothing!

She let herself slide down the wall. _If Yume would have just shut her mouth like I told her I wouldn't be here hiding like this! Now he probably thinks I was "with" Hiei. Hiei… If Rio gets to him, he deserves whatever Rio decides to do to him. He probably caught Yume in the hallway and is interrogating her right now… Wait…! Oh crap… Poor her! _Aieka stood up. _I have to go help her. Rio was mad as all hell in the hallway. Who knows what he decided to do to her! If only she would have listened!!!_

Aieka dashed around the corner and…! Ran smack into Yume. The hit and landed on their butts on the ground.

"Oww! Yume…?"

Yume was up in a flash, "No time! Keep running!"

"What's wrong?"

"Rio!"

They heard his boots run across the stone walk. Aieka could recognize his steel-toed combat boots anywhere and those horrible, fate-sealing footsteps would probably haunt Yume's nightmares for eternities to come.

"No!!!" they screamed in unison and then they were running for their lives around the house.

Just as they passed under a window, something flashed out of it and pulled them inside and shut the window again after them. They couldn't see anything around them because the room was pitch black and their eyes hadn't adjusted. Then someone grabbed the backs of their shirts and drug them through a doorway.

"We've been captured! Now they're going to torture us, Aieka!" Yume wailed.

"Yeah," Aieka said sarcastically, "They're going to put us in cheap plastic formfitting suits and make us sing backup for Brittany Spears."

Yume gasped, "It's worse than I thought!"

"But then again, think about the alternative waiting for us outside…"

They shivered.

A door shut behind them and the hands holding their shirts let go. They heard a lock click in place.

"I was just joking about the thing about Brittany Spears!!!" Aieka said.

"You can't play around at a time like this! We've been-"

"Rescued." two familiar male voices said in unison.

"So shut up." one of them added.

Then four candles lit up in the decently sized closet they were in. The men who saved them were Hiei and Sesshomaru.

Aieka and Yume stood up.

"Oh, thank you." they said.

"Sesshomaru? Hiei?" Aieka asked surprised, "Why are you here and why did you save us?"

Sesshomaru answered, "Well your mate, Rio, suddenly burst through the door to our room-"

"Burned through the door, really." Hiei added.

"-and demanded we tell him why you were there."

"While trying to kill us. You can't overlook that."

"We had no choice but to jump out of the window."

"You jumped out of the window?" Aieka asked skeptically.

"Yeah, and nearly killed me when I was trying to hide outside!" Yume cried, "I looked up after I heard a crash and I see are anuses!! Anuses, falling from the sky! It was traumatizing… Anyway, so I ran the other way. Then I turned the corner and saw a black blur run around the corner and I thought it was Rio so I doubled back again and saw the real Rio jump out of the upstairs window. I started running, but he saw me anyway. Then I turned the corner and ran into Aieka-"

"Leading Rio right to me!"

"It's not my fault!" Yume yelled.

"Yeah it is!" Aieka yelled back, "If you would have just shut up-"

Sesshomaru and Hiei grabbed them and covered their mouths just as they heard someone walk by.

"That's not the point!" Sesshomaru whispered, "The point is that we're being chased by a murderous Fire Apparition all around the mansion! Aieka, you're his property, so can't you calm him down or something?"

"Hey! I'm not-" then she sighed, "It will take him a while to come down from this actually. He's really jealous-"

"Obviously!" Hiei and Yume muttered.

"Oh shut up! Anyway, he's really jealous. I figured he would do this…"

"You knew Rio would do this?!" Yume whispered fiercely, "Then why didn't you warn us?!"

"What would you-excuse me-what _could _you have done about it? I tried but you just didn't get it!" she answered, "And you two," she gestured at Hiei and Sesshomaru, "I had to think of myself first, so I couldn't tell you."

They all sat down and sighed.

"Aieka," Sesshomaru said, "There is something we need to say before we think of how we're going to get out of here."

"Yeah?" she asked.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Aieka," they said together, "Your boyfriend is an overprotective psycho."

She smiled, "Yes, I know. That's what makes him so attractive."

They all stared at her.

Yume leaned over to the two men, "I can see why they were meant for each other."

They nodded.

"Oh yeah…" Aieka asked, "Why did you rescue us?"

"Because," Hiei started, "We figured we would be caught by Rio eventually and we would give you to him in exchange for the opportunity to escape a horrible and painful death accompanied by annoying and degrading mockery. You know, we were going to trade you like…like when a gecko detaches it's tail to escape a hungry bird…"

Everyone gave him a blank stare.

"Rio couldn't be that bad…" Yume said.

Aieka gave her a disturbed look and shook her head, "You don't want to know…"

Then Yume leaned over and hugged Sesshomaru, "Poor you, Aieka! You and your psycho boyfriend! But I know Sesshy saved me because he loves me!"

"What did she call you…?" Hiei asked Sesshomaru, looking disturbed.

Sesshomaru gave him a confused look and shrugged, "I try to ignore her," then he tried to pry her off, "Actually, you were an accident…but I guess you can be used as a shield…"

Yume didn't seem to hear him, "Did I tell you what our children's names are going to be? We'll have five…"

"Oh God…" Aieka whimpered.

- - -

Sometime between the fifth and sixth lap around the mansion, Rio sensed that, somehow, Aieka and Yume had disappeared after they ran around the house. They had escaped. He turned around and started to walk back to the front door. _She'll probably be in hiding until dinner. I'll let them think they got away…for now. Besides, they've probably got my point._

- - -

Aieka crept into the kitchen. Oddly enough, Rio wasn't there. Hiei had finally sensed that Rio had "given up" on trying to find them. (But only after they had to endure what felt like hours of Yume's plans for the future.)

She opened a cupboard. _I need something easy to cook…_ She went into the pantry.

_No ramen… No ramen… No ramen, no ramen, no ramen, No Ramen! HOW CAN YOU HAVE A PANTRY WITH NO RAMEN?!?!?! _Aieka ran back into the kitchen and opened up cupboard, after cupboard, after cupboard.

She paused, "Wait… I smell some nearby…"

Aieka opened up the second pantry; but it was empty.

"Why…? Where the hell is all the friggin' ramen around here?!" she paused, "Wait… Ben has been here… The bastard…"

- - -

Baka put the last package of Ramen in the box.

"They think they can mock me just because I'm not a demon," he mumbled, "But I'll show them… I'll fuck them up! I shall have the last laugh! I'll have possession of all the ramen in the world!!! …or at least all the ramen in this house…I shall be victorious!!!"

He shut the box and laughed as he stood.

"It's mine!!! It's mine, you hear?! All the ramen is under my control!!!"

"What did you say? The ramen is under _whose_ control…?" someone said behind him.

Ben turned and saw a dark figure in the doorway, light streaming in behind them.

"Aieka…? How did you-?!"

Aieka stepped forward and Baka stood defensively in front of the giant ramen box.

"Shut up!" she yelled, sword drawn, "Just give me the ramen and no one gets hurt…"

"NO! It shall never be yours!"

"Silence, fool! You don't need it anywhere near as much as me! This is a matter of life and death!"

Ben's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about? Ramen is not a matter of life and death, bitch."

"My life, or your death, you dirty whore!"

Then Ben took a step back and tripped, his butt landing hard on the precious ramen.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" Aieka screamed as she heard the ramen crunch.

She sheathed her sword and tried to shove Baka off the box futilely; even with all of her Spirit Energy behind the shove, she couldn't budge him.

"Oww! My ass!" he moaned as he rolled off the box.

"No one cares about your ass! It could survive a nuclear explosion along with the roaches and Twinkies; it's the ramen I care about… What in seven hells is wrong with you?! MOVE YOUR FAT ASS!!!"

Aieka and Baka opened the box. Aieka picked up a package. The precious noodles had been reduced to powder. Not even the seasoning packet survived.

"My…precious…" she whimpered.

She threw it back into the box and turned slowly, giving Ben the worst death glare she had ever glared in the history of death glares. Ben's fat twitched.

"How…dare you!!!" Aieka screeched, drawing her sword again, "I needed that ramen!!! Now it's ALL GONE!!!"

"That was only half the ramen," Baka said, "Chris has the other half."

"Really? And how is this going to help you?"

"He will hide it from you! But if you let me live…"

"He has the ramen…?" Aieka asked, "Hn… Then he's going to come back… Too bad for him then…"

Aieka raised her sword and struck Baka on the back of the head, laughing manically.

- - -

Chris walked into the basement and looked around as his eyes adjusted to the almost pitch black room.

"Ben? I hid the rest of the ramen, where are you?"

He stepped, unconsciously, onto a giant painted "X" on the floor. Then he saw Aieka standing at the edge of the X.

"Aieka?! Why are you here?! Where's Ben?"

Aieka pointed her sword at him, "Just give me your share of the damn ramen and you and Ben might survive."

Chris turned to run.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Aieka warned, "You have no idea how much danger you're in right now."

Chris stopped and noticed the X.

"Look up, you dumb shit." Aieka ordered.

Chris stared up in horror as he stared at Ben who was tied to the piping on the ceiling. The pipes groaned with the weight of their burden. Then he blinked.

"Aieka?"

"Yeah, loser?"

"How did you get those ropes to hold him up there?"

Aieka looked up as the pipes screamed, "Umm…good question…I'm not really sure how they've been able to hold him up there so long…"

Then the ropes began snap and their sense of preservation kicked in. Their argument forgotten, Aieka sheathed her sword and began to sprint to the exit.

"RUN, YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD!!!" she screamed, "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!"

Aieka passed Chris easily and was halfway to the basement stairs. The ropes continued to unravel and snap. Chris dared a look up just as the last rope snapped and Ben fell. Chris didn't make it. His final scream was smothered by the earth shaking "BOOM!" that shook the house and it's grounds. He was incased in layers of ass fat. Aieka didn't stop until she ran straight into Rio at top of the stairs. He caught her by the front of her shirt and stood her back on her feet when she almost fell backwards back down the stairs.

But he didn't let go.

Their faces were about two inches apart and Rio stared unnervingly into her panicked eyes.

Aieka laughed nervously, "H-hi, Rio… What's up? Hehe…" she cringed. "Don't hurt me…!"

He smirked evilly and let her go. Sesshomaru, Hiei, Yume, Kurama, Touya, and Aoshi came down from upstairs to find the source of the tremor. Sesshomaru, Hiei, and Yume came to an immediate halt when they saw Rio. Rio and Aieka moved out of the others' way so they could look downstairs. No one went down. They looked at Aieka and Rio. Rio shrugged, but Aieka didn't twitch, her full attention captured by Rio.

"Don't look so scared," Rio said to her in his velvet voice, "It doesn't suit you."

She calmed down, or at least made herself look calm for everyone. She started walking over to where the others were, (More importantly, away from HIM!), but apparently Rio wasn't finished.

"You know I won't hurt you…unless you want me to…" then he smiled that dangerous smile, "And if I did, I bet you'd like it."

Aieka stumbled, but didn't fall. She stood with her back to him and her right eye started twitching. She looked very disturbed. Everyone else's eyes got big and they looked from Aieka, to Rio, to Aieka, to Rio, and then back to Aieka. Rio just started walking away.

"See you later, Aieka!"

Then he walked around the corner and out of sight.

Sesshomaru was staring at her with his head cocked to the side with a look that couldn't be interpreted. Hiei was looking at the ground with a "I'm-not-going-to-say-a-word" look on his face. Yume's eyes were big and it looked like she was trying hard not to laugh. Kurama looked shocked. Touya looked like he was trying to act indifferent, but failing. And Aoshi was all-too-thoroughly inspecting a vase on the corner table, trying to ignore the situation but still trying to suppress a smile. Aieka saw all of this and glared at them.

"It is NOT what it seems! Shut up," she growled, "He said that just to make you THINK that!"

Yume edged over to her, "Wow, so you two have already gotten back to doing that, huh? Banging so hard the whole house shook, wow. Didn't waste any time at all gettin' it on…"

"Shut up, okay! Just shut up! It's not what it seems! SHUT UP, YUME!!!"

Yume jumped back to the line looking pleased with being a pest.

"I hate you…" Aieka mumbled as she walked to the kitchen, "You can all burn in hell!"

- - -

Everyone sat at the table for lunch eating beef stew and breadsticks which Aieka was able to throw together only thirty minutes late. No one complained, but that might have been because Aieka was in a particularly hostile mood and that Chris had been found crushed between two skin flaps of an unconscious Ben in a very strange position next to a box of powdered ramen in the warehouse section of the basement under the stairs. No one dared think of how such a thing had happened. Neither of the two had woken up yet. Chris was taken to the clinic in another section of the mansion and, because no one could lift him or just didn't want to, Ben was left in the basement.

Yume finally couldn't take the silence any longer. She picked up a breadstick, stood up, and held it high in the air.

"Penis!"

Everyone froze. Aieka dropped her spoon into her bowl and just stared at Yume with a look of shear dismay. Then Yume sat down and kept eating her soup like nothing happened.

"What…the hell…was that…?!" Aieka whispered, her right eye twitching again.

Then Aishi screamed, "How could you say such a horrible word?! And at the dinner table?!"

Yume looked at her with an innocent smile, "What? Do my words offend you?"

"You said-" Aishi leaned over and her voice dropped to a barely audible level, "-penis."

"What about a penis?" Yume asked loudly.

She covered her ears, "Don't say that!!!"

Then she ran away.

Everyone just stared on, disturbed.

Aieka cleared her throat, "Well, that was…nothing short of disturbing…and completely random… Thank you, Yume. I'll never be able to look at breadsticks the same again."

Yume poked at one, "It's a penis in disguise…" then she took a bite of it, "No wonder they're so delicious…"

Kikyo stopped chewing on hers and just put it down on her plate and spat the rest into a napkin.

"No dick for me, thank you." she whispered.

Touya and Shizuka, one seated on either side of Kikyo, looked at her oddly, and then scooted away from her a bit.

Aieka just smiled and shook her head and leaned back in her chair, sipping her wine. Yume sat in her chair, looking happy with her work. The others just sat, still in shock, with that disturbed look stuck on their faces.

Yume smiled, feeling good she accomplished to disturb everyone. She then looked to the side of her, to see Toya, sort of smiling and looking at her. She turned away and was changing at least five different shades of red.

_Oi, why do I keep looking at him? I only like Sesshomaru. But …_ She shook her head a little, and tried to feel happy again, for the "disturbance" she caused. She smiled and kept eating her bread sticks, with Toya still in the back of her mind. Then she picked up the breadbasket.

"Penis, anyone?"

- - -

_"Yume, where are you?" Toya shouted as he walked through the forest._

_They were playing a little game of hide and seek, but with a different outcome._

_"I know where you are, little Yume." he said, spotting a part of her dress behind a tree._

_He ran to it, but it was just the cloth. He looked around, getting a little nervous. Suddenly, something tackled him from the back._

_"I found you." Yume said while laying on top of him, straddling his waist, "You know, I was the one looking for you, not the other way around." she said with a smile, putting his hands on her hips, "I was getting bored, you know I never had too much patience." she said leaning down, making their faces only inches away, looking into his eyes seductively._

_"I know. But be careful with that little habit, it can cause something bad to happen later. Or maybe something good could happen now." he said pulling her body closer to his, then kissed her deeply on the lips. _

- - -

Aieka stood in the courtyard at midnight, waiting. Rio had caught her in the kitchen, as Aieka expected he would, and made her promise she would meet him in the courtyard around midnight. Aieka figured it would be better to meet him after a few hours so he would be a little calmer, even though Rio did have the worst habit of holding grudges, but her odds would be better…maybe…hopefully…oh fuck it! She was going to have to face him either way and either way she was screwed so better to just handle the matter as privately as possible.

He walked over to her from the shrub maze. They were in the rose section of the inner courtyard's garden. The scents of the many colored roses were intoxicating, but wonderful. Aieka stood by a huge wooden structure with black climbing roses growing thick on it, weaving around the cross-hatching beams.

"So," she said, "I suppose you want to rant about how I can't look at an men except you and how I disobeyed you and all that crap?"

Rio closed his eyes for a moment before he breathed deeply and opened them again, his almost black eyes reflecting silver light from the moon, making them look even more like they contained a whole night within them themselves.

"You really pissed me off this morning," he said quietly, "What do you have to say about that?"

Well, it seems death had given him a bit more patience.

"You know as well as anyone nothing happened…" she paused and then breathed deeply for the nest part, "A lot's happened since you walked away from me that day… Almost four hundred years worth of shit. It's hard for me to just drop all of what I've become to just take you back. I abandoned my life for you once, Rio, and I came up short."

"I couldn't help that, Aieka. I died. What do you want from me?!"

"I almost killed myself to be with you, Rio!" Aieka yelled at him, "When I said I would give up anything to be with you, I meant that literally! I was willing to die to be with you! I waited for you like you told me to when you left and when you didn't come back to the Ice World for two years, I went back to the Kuro Ryuu to wait there. A year later, I find out you died. Do you know what that did to me, Rio?! It was…! It killed me inside. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I didn't do anything. I went catatonic, basically. I was there physically, but my mind was in hell. When I heard you died, I lost everything. Then, five years later, I tried to kill myself. Someone stopped me from doing that, but I was never the same.

"I moved on, but you were always in the back of my mind, always pulling at the little bit of sanity I had pieced together, always keeping me from letting what happened go. Then I died and was reincarnated and, now that I think about it, you were _still_ there in my mind. I still felt some painful memory in the back of my mind that I couldn't fully remember. I died and you _still_ plagued me."

He listened in silence while she ranted. Aieka stared at him for a while after she finished, and then sighed, everything spent for the time being.

When he didn't say anything, she continued, but in a more subdued tone, "The worst part, the part that kept me holding on to you like I did, was what you had said before you left. You promised me, Rio. You had _promised _me you would come back and you told me I had to wait for you."

"I know," he said, "I was so sure of myself when I left. I really fucked everything up with that. But hey," he reached out and put a hand on her arm, "I'm here now."

"Yeah, because of Naraku."

"You forgive me?" he asked.

Aieka was quiet for a long time, but it didn't matter. When you're dead, time is all you have. Then she gave him a quick kiss, then started back to the mansion, "You're good, Rio, but not that good; you still ruined a big part of my life. You want me, you have to earn you're way into my favor like every other poor hopeless guy to ever fall for me. The way I see things here, we're all getting a chance to start over. To begin again. Well, let's…begin again."


	8. A Spell Gone Horribly, Horribly Wrong

**Chapter Eight: A Spell Gone Horribly, Horribly Wrong**

Shizuka sat in her room with some plants she had brought with her to the mansion and a few she acquired from the garden and green house in the courtyard.

"I have a plan," she said to Kikyo who sat grinding a root of the Oiyugata plant, a cannibalistic organism of the Demon World.

"And are you going to tell me what it is now?" Kikyo asked, adding a leaf of some other demon plant to the bowl.

"Here's the plan. I plan to switch bodies with Naraku using this potion we're making-"

"WHAT?!" Kikyo yelled, dropping the bowl, "He'll kill us!"

Shizuka caught it at the last second.

"Shh!" she said, "Let me finish! When I throw the potion at him and say the spell to activate it, we'll be switched instantly. Naraku will still be in shock for a few seconds afterward. That's when you come up behind him, knock him out, bind him with your priestess abilities, and stash him somewhere. Then I'll find out how Naraku is able to go in and out of the mansion and get us all out of here."

Kikyo looked at her skeptically, "Well…It might work…"

"It will!" Shizuka insisted, "Just have faith!"

- - -

Naraku was in the highest room of the mansion, the main control room, inspecting the ventilation system when he sensed a threat. He ducked instinctively just as two blades, traveling at almost twice the speed of lightning, clashed right where his neck had been. The two assassins looked shocked.

"YOU?!" Aieka yelled.

"YOU?!" Hiei yelled at her at the same time.

"YOU?!" Naraku screamed in fear.

"I'm going to kill Naraku!" Aieka and Hiei yelled at each other.

Then they paused and stared.

"Why do you keep…copying me?!" Aieka asked.

"For you're information, neither of you are going to kill me!" Naraku cried, getting back on his feet.

Then Shizuka burst into the room holding a strange clay bowl.

"You two?!" she gasped at Aieka and Hiei.

"YOU?!" Naraku, Hiei, and Aieka asked in unison.

Aieka and Hiei took the open door as an opportunity to escape their immanent punishment and ran past Shizuka and Kikyo who was waiting outside. Their dash shocked Shizuka and she dropped the bowl. It shattered and the pulpy plant juices spread all over the room. Naraku couldn't take it anymore and teleported out of the mansion shield.

"NO!" Shizuka yelled then covered her mouth.

Suddenly, the liquid began evaporating into a chocking miasma at an alarmingly fast rate. When the room became too full of the gas, the vapors spread into the open vents in the room…

- - -

Everyone slowly began to awake from their poison/potion induced sleep. Yume rolled over and sat up. She was at the base of the stairs. She stood up and tried to remember how she got there. It was morning and everyone had passed up Aishi's breakfast of hot peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on burnt toast. She had been walking down the stairs when she passed Rio. He had smiled one of the most gorgeous smiles she had ever seen and said good morning and tossed her a box of strawberry pocky, which, even though he looked really hot when he smiled, was creepy and didn't really match his normal bad-ass attitude. Then they went their separate ways. A few seconds later, Rio ran back down and was yelling for her to run out the front door. She looked behind him and saw a red cloud of some kind of bad smelling gas and she passed out and probably fell down the stairs.

"Rio…?" she called out, her voice sounding strange to her, "Rio?"

Then she looked at her hand. It wasn't hers. Then she looked down at her cloths. Black pants, two daggers, black t-shirt, black wrist bands, and…black, steel-toed combat boots… She was…some how…Rio. In total dismay, she tried to scream, but couldn't. Then she realized, if she was Rio, then Rio must be her.

The newly embodied Yume spotted herself laying in front of the huge front doors of the mansion. She walked over to her old self, awkward because her steps were uneven and she felt much heavier, and squatted next to the body.

"Hey," she said, nudging the arm, "Wake up. But when you do…what you see…might be very disturbing to you."

The shining purple eyes revealed themselves and the person sat up.

"What hap…pened…?" they rose their right hand to their lips, hearing the difference.

Then their eyes flashed over to Yume and widened.

"Who…What are you?" they asked, reaching for a weapon on their waist that wasn't there.

"I'm you and you're me. I'm Yume and you have my body… You're Rio, right?"

"Yume? I'm you then… Yeah, it's me," Rio paused and reviewed what had happened, "It was that red haze from earlier, wasn't it?"

Then, before Yume could even affirm what he said, the screams began. One by one, people from all over the mansion started screaming when they realized their new situations. Then, after a few minutes, the people had either run out of energy or just stopped.

"So it wasn't just us, then." Rio said.

Then Aieka and Kurama appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Is that you, Yume?" Kurama asked.

"I'm Yume," Yume said, "No offense Rio, but I plan to keep my name."

"No offense taken; so do I." Rio said.

"We're Aieka and Kurama," Kurama said, "But now I'm really Aieka and Kurama's in my body…"

Yume pointed at Kurama's body, "So you're really Aieka?"

"Yeah. And that's," the real Aieka pointed at her old body, "Kurama now."

"This is so disturbing…" Yume whined in a high, squeaky voice.

Everyone winced.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't ever do that again…" Rio whispered

"It just sounds so…odd with his voice…" Aieka added quietly.

"We can deal with our smaller problems later," Kurama said, moving on, "Right now, we have to deal with the major problem; everyone needs to be switched back before strange things begin happening and worse problems arise."

Aieka looked confused, "What could possibly happen that could be worse?"

Kurama looked grim, "Experimenting."

Aieka tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest, then looked down.

"Hey!" she said, "I can actually cross my arms now!" then she looked again, "And…Oh shit!" she looked shocked, "I haven't been able to look down and see my feet without bending over in years!"

Everyone looked disturbed.

Yume shook her head, "Kurama cursing and Aieka making intelligent statements all in one day… I never thought it was possible…"

Kurama sighed while Aieka still stood in awe, "We need to sort all of this out as soon as possible. We need to go around the house and gather everyone together and bring them here. Can you three do that without causing further hysteria?"

Aieka looked up and the trio nodded.

"But remember, don't arouse any confrontation; because of the switch, no one will have proper training with the abilities of their new forms, so some might not be able to properly focus and control their energy. Treat all with caution and don't provoke them."

All the while he was speaking, he was looking at Aieka and Rio. They nodded again and started off. Yume went upstairs and to the West, Rio did the same but went East, and Aieka stayed downstairs and went North into the courtyard.

"I'll be waiting to receive everyone here." Kurama added.

As Yume walked around the banister to the infirmary, she was both alarmed and happy that she couldn't smell everything that had passed through the area. _Fire Apparitions don't have a heightened sense of smell or hearing… Lucky bastards…_ She opened the door and saw that Chris wasn't in his sick bed. She shrugged and closed the door again and entered the open door to the library. Inside were Aoshi and Toya. They didn't take notice of her presence, but rather were staring at themselves/each other with very alarmed and confused looks. Then Aoshi glanced over and saw Yume.

"Who are you?!" he demanded.

"I'm Yume…or Rio…not really sure which at the moment but…I'm Yume in Rio's body… Were you the only ones here when the miasma came?"

"You mean that red smoke?" Toya/Aoshi asked, "Yes, we were."

"Kurama, in Aieka of all peoples' big head bodies, is down stairs. He's going to try to figure this out but he wants everyone to come down stairs so nothing happens…" she looked from one to the other, "So you really are Aoshi and Toya, right?"

They nodded.

"Okay then, this might not turn out too badly… But just go down stairs and talk to Kurama."

Toya and Aoshi looked at each other suspiciously one last time, then walked past Yume to the stairs. Yume went to the bedrooms and checked the girls rooms. No one. Then she went downstairs again and started toward the kitchen.

_- - - meanwhile - - -_

Kikyo slowly pealed herself off the floor. (Because she and Shizuka had inhaled an almost pure concentration of the gas, unlike everyone else who breathed in a version that had run through multiple filters and had diffused, they were unconscious longer.) Shizuka, a few stairs below her did the same. (Attempting to flee, they had fallen down the first set of stairs.)

"Oh no… No! This can't be! It wasn't suppose to be like this!!!" Shizuka, now Kikyo, screamed.

Kikyo looked down and realized she was wearing Shizuka's white robes and body.

"You bitch!" Kikyo screamed, "Give me back my body before I…drag you into the bowels of Hell to rot with InuYasha!!!"

"It was an accident!" Shizuka cried.

"You fool! You made the activation word "no"?! Who does that?!"

"It sounded good at the time…! I…I didn't think-"

"No you didn't! You better start fixing this now!"

Then Kikyo leapt down on Shizuka and they tumbled down the stairs.

- - -

Entering the courtyard, Aieka was immediately met by a frantic Yukina. She was a few yards away from the door and when she heard the door, ran over to whoever came in, though Aieka knew as soon as she heard the first six words "Yukina" spoke, the Ice Apparition hadn't escaped the miasma either.

"Oh shit, Kurama," Yukina said, "Glad it's you! I don't know what the hell happened but… I just don't know…!"

The obscenities sounded even more obscene coming from Yukina, but that could be dealt with later. Aieka decided that it would be best to tell whoever this was that she wasn't really Kurama after they explained; they seemed willing enough to tell him. She tried her best to mimic him.

"Just tell me what happened the best you can." she said calmly.

"Okay," Yukina said, "You see, even though I look like I'm Yukina, I'm not. I know this sounds crazy, but I'm Koga."

_Figures…_ Aieka thought.

"Try to calm down and continue," she said.

"I was over by the waterfall," he pointed at it to emphasize, "Because it reminds me of back home with the wolves, when I here this scream. It was the real Yukina. Since I'm," he smiled that wolf smile that looked so out of place on Yukina's face, "such a nice guy, I started to run to go help her when I look back and see this red smoke pouring out of the open windows over on the walls. Then I guess I passed out and when I woke up, I was Yukina."

Koga looked at her with this pleading look.

"I swear, Kurama, you have to believe me! I really don't know what happened!"

"I believe you, Koga," Aieka said, "Because I'm not Kurama. I'm Aieka."

Koga looked shock, "You're Aieka…?!" then he cringed, "Eww…you're a man…"

Aieka looked shock and disturbed for a moment, then she slapped him, "So the fuck what! You're a chick!!!" then she suddenly saw an image of Hiei looking seriously pissed in her mind and picked up Koga/Yukina off the ground and started to dust her off, "I'll get you for that, Koga. I swear, as soon as we get switched back, I'm going to kick your ass. Anyway, do you know where the real Yukina is?"

Koga pointed to the upper right section of the courtyard, "That was where I was when the smoke knocked me out. Since I woke up where she had been, she should still be over there."

They walked over to the small waterfall fountain and saw Yukina, sure enough, in Koga's body. She sat at the water's edge, looking terrified and close to tears. It didn't help when she saw herself walk over from the garden path. Before she could react, Aieka spoke to her.

"I know this is really, really weird Yukina," she said as soothingly as possible, "But you and Koga switched bodies. It happened to everyone in the mansion and, probably, everyone outside too."

"But how?" she asked.

"I don't know…but Kurama thinks he might be able to do something."

She blinked, "Then you are…?"

"Aieka. Kurama has my body," _That sounded so wrong… _"Anyway, we need to get to the main hall so we can see what we're going to do about this."

Then she heard a distant crash, _Oh shit_, she thought as she ran to find Rio.

- - -

Rio, using his newly discovered hearing abilities, could tell there were only two people in the men's apartments. He pinpointed the location the voices were coming from, walked down the hall, and opened the door to Sesshomaru and Hiei's room. One was by the window, the other by the by the wall next to the doorway, and it looked like they were about to fight. One of the tables had been flung against a wall. They instantly looked at him, neither looking pleased in the least.

Hiei growled, "Yume, this really isn't the time…"

"Having a domestic problem, are we?" Rio asked sweetly.

The two were about to beat the shit out of him when they paused.

"_Is_ that you, Yume?" Hiei asked.

"Well, let me put it this way, I'm no more Yume then you are Hiei."

"Then you are…?" Sesshomaru baited.

"The esteemed Lord Rio." he announced proudly.

_It could only be, _the real Hiei thought.

"Since you seem pretty calm about the situation," the real Sesshomaru, now Hiei, asked, "What happened?"

Rio was about to say something when someone scoffed from the hallway behind him.

"Don't even bother to ask him," they said, "He's just happy that he now has the body to match his bitchy attitude. Surprised you two didn't recognize it the moment _she _walked in."

The person pushed past him. Hiei, now Sesshomaru, looked shocked.

"Kurama?" he asked.

"No, Aieka." she said, then she turned on Rio after she saw the table, "I thought we were told no fucking fighting!!!"

"They were already fighting when I got here! You're the one about to cause the damn fight!" he hissed back at her.

Then he walked back down the hallway, "Since you don't want my help, don't expect anymore of it."


	9. Chapter Nine : Lead Shot to the Head

.-. Lead Shot to the Head .-.

Barney got shot in the head

While in the bed with Betty Boop and Ned,

Who shot Barney with some lead

In the head

Then Ned went to Ed

For some bread

To clean up the blood that Barney bled

Then Ned got in the bed

With Betty and was shot in the head

By some lead that Barney bled.

THEN Betty went to the fed….s( add the 's' a little late)

To tell them that Barney and Ned are dead

By some lead

In the head

In the bed.

THEN the fed said

To get in the bed

With him and Big Red

Who was really Ned

Back from the dead

Then Ned said

"Betty, you's dead"

Then he shot her in the head

With the lead

That Barney and Ned bled.

The Ed…..nd ( as the -nd a little late too.)

-------

So...yeah...umm...this really isn't chapter nine...we...sorta...kinda...somewhat...maybe...possibly...ish...appologuise for this...randomniss...(hehe, more rhymes). But, well, yeah...Anyway, you wanna know why we haven't posted anything? We don't get any reviews, no criticisms, and no compliments. I don't mean those little one worded reviews, we want something more detailed. It won't waste too much of your time. I mean even if you had like a broken wrist it won't hurt...much, I mean.. just a few words. If you don't review...you get more of _this_…BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (By the way, feel free to comment on whatever.)


End file.
